"At rare moments it seems a new era is starting before our eyes and history is about to change very fast. September 11, 2001, was such a moment. The latest editions of this classic reference takes us beyond the headlines. It provides a global overview of the causes and consequences of war today and the dynamics of peacemaking. It analyzes current wars, their background, their trends and their prospects. On every continent, from Iraq to Sierra Leone, the Middle East to Northern Ireland, Colombia to Afghanistan." "The Penguin Atlas of War and Peace maps the problem of war and the challenge of peace in the twenty-first century. Its unique format gives shape and meaning to the statistics about the world's war zones and armed forces, and makes it an indispensable resource for understanding the world we live in."--Jacket.

Revised edition of the author's The state of war and peace atlas, Penguin, 1997.

ch. 1. The causes of war -- 1. Poverty -- 2. Rights -- 3. Political systems -- 4. Ethnicity -- ch. 2. The military world -- 5. Under arms -- 6. Military service -- 7. Military spending -- 8. Mass destruction -- 9. The International Arms Trade -- 10. Small arms trade -- 11. Terrorism -- 12. US power -- ch. 3. War and people -- 13. Deaths -- 14. Atrocities -- 15. Refugees -- 16. Landmines -- 17. Young soldiers -- ch. 4. Europe -- 18. Northern Ireland -- 19. The break-up of Yugoslavia -- 20. Kosovo and the war on Yugoslavia -- 21. Ex-Yugoslavia and the future -- 22. The Caucasus -- ch. 5. Middle East and North Africa -- 23. The Kurds -- 24. Israel and Palestine -- 25. Israelis and Palestinians -- 26. North Africa -- 27. The Gulf -- ch. 6. Asia -- 28. Central Asia -- 29. Afghanistan -- 30. South Asia -- 31. Sri Lanka -- 32. Southeast Asia -- ch. 7. Africa -- 33. Colonial history and dispossession -- 34. West Africa -- 35. Congo -- 36. Burundi and Rwanda -- 37. Horn of Africa -- 38. Sudan -- 39. Southern Africa -- ch. 8. Latin America -- 40. Colombia and its neighbors -- 41. Central America -- ch. 9. Peacebuilding -- 42. Peace agreements -- 43. Peacekeeping -- 44. Peace processes -- Table of wars.