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Imagine sweeping through green fields, floating five feet above ground, sun on your face as you slide by on track to your destination, not a care in the world as you simply lean back. And before you know it, you're there.

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The opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the participants not of Reuters news.

His closest aides, his most trusted fellow fighters,

and they sort of said, listen, you know, you didn't consult us,

you went over our heads, and he decided that this constituted a

challenge to his authority and they've never been seen since. This week on War College we're talking about a secretive nation where everyone serves in the military and not just for a year or two.

Once drafted, people can be stuck there for a decade or even more.

The country, Eritrea, sits on the Red Sea, and it's been called Africa's North Korea.

After this week's conversation, it's not hard to see why.

You're listening to War College, a weekly discussion of a world in conflict focusing on the stories behind the front lines.

Here's your host, Jason Fields. Hello and welcome to War College.

I'm Reuters opinion editor Jason Fields.

And I'm Matthew Galt, contributing editor at War is Boring.

Joining us today is Michaela Rong.

She is one of the few outsiders who can be called any kind of expert

...