Provides background information on long-term ethnic, religious, political, territorial and economic conflicts between nations today.

"Two volumes, each written in an accessible, informative way, will be released each year"--X.

V.1: Afghan Taliban -- Amazon's deforestation -- Bosnia Herzegovina -- Brazil; racism and equality -- Chechnya and Russia -- Chiapas rebellion -- Colombian drug wars -- Congo-Kinshasa; the African world war -- Cuba and the United States -- Ethiopia and Eritrea -- Gaza Strip and West Bank -- German right wing extremism -- Humanitarian aid -- Iraq; economic sanctions -- Kashmir; war in the Himalayas -- Kurds in Turkey -- Liberia in civil war -- Nagorno-Karabakh; self-determination and ethnic identification -- Oil; protectionist pricing and fuel dependence -- Pinochet's extradition -- Roma in Eastern Europe -- Rwanda and Burundi -- Serbia and NATO -- Soviet Union; collapse of the USSR -- Sudan; slavery and civil war -- Syria and Israel -- Taiwan and China -- U.S. Militant separatist movements -- Venezuela; new military populism -- World Trade Organization; the battle in Seattle -- V.2: Algeria's post-colonial civil war -- Angola; civil war and diamonds -- Austria's shunning by the global community -- Basques; the ETA and separatism -- China and religious protest -- China and the World Trade Organization -- Colombian U'wa Indians; sacred land and oil -- Cyprus; and island divided -- East Timor; the path of democracy -- Ecuadorian indigenous people's movement -- European union conflict; the British beef controversy -- Guatemala; Indian testimony to a genocidal war -- Iranian revolution; Islamic fundamentalism confronts modern secularism -- Jerusalem; divided city -- Korean peninsula; a fifty-year struggle -- Kosovo; ethnic tensions and nationalism -- Mexican-U.S. border relations -- Mozambique; independence and a dirty war -- Myanmar; the agony of a people -- Native Americans; centuries of struggle in North America -- Nigeria and Shari'a -- Northern Ireland -- Peru's shining path; revolution's end -- Romania's cyanide spill -- South Africa's truth and reconciliation commission -- Sri Lanka; civil war and ethno-linguistic conflict -- Tibet; struggle for independence -- United Nations peacekeeping forces; peace and conflict -- U.S. Immigration; sanctuary and controversy -- Zimbabwe's land reform. v.3: Pol Pot and the prosecution of the Khmer Rouge leadership in Cambodia -- Splitting a nation; Quebec separatism in Canada -- Disputed drilling rights in the Caspian Sea -- China's Muslim challenge; conflict in Xinjiang -- Unrest and assassination in Congo-Kinsasha -- Diamond cartel; monopolizing and industry -- Economic sanctions; a valuable weapon? -- Currency exchange; Ecuador adopts the U.S. dollar -- Opening Europe's secret cold war files -- Female circumcision; culture or cruelty? -- Overthrowing democracy; Fiji's coup -- Haiti's rocky road to democracy -- Hong Kong; walking the tightrope between capitalism and communism -- Indonesia; grappling with unrest in Aceh and Irian Jaya -- Israel's assassination of the opposition -- Electing change in Mexico -- Pakistan's coup; new regime or old tradition -- Whose marbles are they?; controversy over the Parthenon Marbles -- Fujimori and Montesinos; power, politics, and scandal in Peru -- Rooting out corruption in the Philippines; impeachment of a president -- Free to speak?; establishing a free press in Russia -- After Somalia's civil war; putting the pieces back together again -- South Africa's struggle with AIDS -- Retained assets; Swiss banks release previously held funds to Holocaust survivors -- Threats of terrorism in the twenty-first century -- Turkey's tug of war; straddling the divide between East and West -- Death before doomsday; cult members found dead in Uganda -- New labour and the devolution of power in the United Kingdom -- U.S. military presence at world ports; a welcome stay? -- Democratic ousting; Yugoslavia elects a new leader. v.4: Afghanistan: Afghan Taliban strikes out -- Andean Initiative: expanded U.S. drug war in Latin America: downed missionary plane places the spotlight on the Andean Initiative -- Australia: hard to say sorry: Indigenous Australia's reconciliation movement -- Britain: Euro versus the pound: Britain and the European single currency -- Child soldiers: reading, writing, and warfare: children in armed conflict -- China: Sanxia (Three Gorges) project in China: crisis in the making? -- China and the United States: Spy plane incident: China-U.S. relations -- Cote d'Ivoire: cosmopolitan society descends into political chaos and violence -- Espionage: post-cold war espionage between the United States and Russia: how has the mission changed? -- India's caste system under attack: Dalit Movement -- International military tribunals: bringing the world's worst to justice -- Ivory: Africa's ivory trade: fighting for the bearers of "white gold" -- Japanese voters seek change as their economy deteriorates: new prime minister vows to break political logjam -- Kyoto Protocol: Quitting the Kyoto Protocol: United States strikes out alone -- Libya, Qadhafi, and the African Union -- Lockerbie Trial on trial: was justice served? -- Macedonia faces division and violence -- National Missile Defense: defending against the indefensible: creating a National Missile Defense in the United States -- North Korea: hermit kingdom in the global era -- Population: missing girls: son preference reshapes the population in India and China -- Russia agrees to take the world's nuclear waste: but where to put it? -- Sierra Leone: lasting peace or a cruel mirage? -- Tobacco control: World Health Organization takes on the tobacco industry -- Trade protectionism: world trade conflict: has the Third World been cheated? -- United States loses its seat on the United Nations Human Rights Panel. vol. 5: Air security and terrorist threats -- biological threats of terrorism -- chemical terrorism threats -- civil rights suspended -- domestic terrorism: Oklahoma City to anthrax and beyond -- European Union's response to 9/11 and its aftermath -- Extremism: fundamentals -- Financing terrorism: money for the cause -- Force: fighting terrorism with force: Homeland security: guarding against terrorism -- Hostage taking and terrorism: human bargaining chip -- U.S. intelligence in the twenty-first century -- International rules: forging international rules against terrorism -- Laden: Osama bin Laden: face of terrorism -- Living with terrorism: everyday life and the effects of terror -- media's relationship with terrorism -- Muslim world reacts to September 11 -- Nuclear terrorism: threats, challenges, and responses -- Olympics confronts terrorism -- PLO and Yasser Arafat: from terrorism to statesmanship to terrorism -- Prosecuting terrorism -- Psychology: understanding the 9/11 perpetrators: crazy, lost in hate, or martyred? -- Al-Qaeda and the reach of terror -- September 11, 2001: United States is attacked on its own soil -- State sponsored terrorism -- United States vs. terror: new kind of war. vol. 6: Africa's small arms trade: infection of guns and chaos -- Argentina: from economic miracle to political meltdown -- Australia's illegal migration: Australian dilemma or worldwide problem? -- Bangladesh: democratic election of 2001 -- Children exploited: combating the commercial sexual exploitation of children -- China and ASEAN agree to free trade area but why? -- Cloning debate: future is burdened by its past -- Cybercrime: is the Internet outside the law? -- Enron: how did this happen? -- European Union: advancements and delays in European integration -- Gibraltar: thorn in the side of the EU -- International Criminal Court: accountability at last? -- Jamaica: gun battles in Kingston -- Japan: history and the textbook controversy -- Pakistan: partner against terrorism -- Philippines Rebellion: freedom fighting, banditry, or terrorism? -- Portugal at the forefront: decriminalization of drugs in Europe -- Russia-NATO relations in the post-cold war world: rethinking the future of collective security -- South Africa: slow economy delays some post-apartheid goals -- Turkey: women are granted equal rights -- Ukraine-president stands accused: murder and politics -- War correspondents today -- Water wars: myth or reality? -- Women, peace, and security: United Nations Resolution 1325 -- World Bank and the IMF in developing countries: globalization and the crisis of legitimacy -- World Trade Organization: technical side of globalization -- Zionism: perspective on the Jewish-Israeli experience in the Arab-Israeli Conflict.