"Trouble Spots explains, through text and clear graphics, the causes of conflict - whether it is currently in progress, in abeyance or imminent unless preventative measures are taken." "The authors give a short historical background to each problem together with a summary of recent events and steps taken by participants and third or international parties to bring about a solution. The trouble spots considered in this book are not necessarily areas of military conflict: several issues with purely political and economic implications are covered, for example the availability of vital resources such as oil and water." "Trouble Spots is researched and illustrated with specially commissioned maps and diagrams, and supported by a selection of evocative photographs from around the world. It is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the causes of conflict in the contemporary world."--Jacket.

Global Concerns --A World at War: A Violent Postwar History 3 -- United Nations Peacekeeping: Global Involvement 6 -- Refugees: Not Just the UNHCR's Problem 8 -- Environmental Change: Strategic Implications 11 -- Freedom of the Seas: Vulnerable Routes and Piracy 15 -- Terrorism: Warfare of the Underdog 18 -- Anti-Personnel Mines: Civil War's Legacy 22 -- Drugs: A Truly Global Problem 25 -- Weapons of Mass Destruction -- Nuclear Dimension: Proliferation 31 -- Nuclear Dimension: Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones 35 -- Nuclear Dimension: Disarmament 37 -- Chemical and Biological Dimension: Proliferation and Use 42 -- Delivery: Missiles, Aircraft and Other Means 46 -- Usa: The Only Superpower -- United States: Global Reach 50 -- United States: The Reluctant Hegemon 54 -- Ballistic Missile Defence: Myth or Sure Defence? 58 -- Sanctions: Do They Work? 62 -- End of Empire: The Collapse of the Soviet Union -- Soviet Union: Russia's Former Empire 65 -- North Caucasus: The Next Tier to Break Away? 68 -- Problems That Could Face the Russian Federation: Unrealised Fears 74 -- Baltic States: Can They Really Expect to Join NATO? 77 -- Russia's Dwindling Military Capability and the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty 81 -- Kurils or the Northern Islands? 85 -- Europe: Between Unification and Fragmentation -- Enlarging the Atlantic Alliance 87 -- A European Security and Defence Identity 91 -- Changing Borders: 1914-99 95 -- Greece and Turkey: A Dangerous Fault Line 99 -- Cyprus: A Case for Partition 102 -- Northern Ireland: Has Permanent Peace been Achieved? 105 -- Balkans: Exchanging Communism for Nationalism -- Yugoslavia: Background and History 111 -- Slovenia and Croatia: Tourism has Returned 114 -- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Waiting to Re-explode 118 -- Macedonia: An Example of Preventive Diplomacy 122 -- Kosovo: The Seedbed of Another Balkan War 124 -- Albania: A Potential Time Bomb 129 -- Crescent of Crisis -- Transcaucasian Nexus: History Revisited 132 -- Central Asia: Getting the Oil Out 138 -- Kurds: A People Without a Country 141 -- Afghanistan: Doomed to Perpetual Civil War 146 -- Strategic Water: The Tigris and Euphrates 150 -- Middle East: The World's Most Volatile Region -- Military Reach: Too Late to Stop Proliferation 154 -- Waters of the Nile 156 -- Lebanon: A Divided Country under Occupation 160 -- Israel's Security Situation: Land for Peace 164 -- A Palestinian State: The Price for Peace 169 -- Jerusalem: The Final Problem 174 -- Water: Israel's Greatest Shortage 178 -- Iraq: After Saddam, Can It Survive Undivided? 182 -- Iran: Are the Ayatollahs a Threat? 186 -- Shifting Sands: Border Problems in the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf 190 -- Is Islam a Threat? 193 -- North Africa: A Threatening Coastline -- North Africa: Demographic Pressure 196 -- Morocco and the Western Sahara 198 -- Algeria: Will Violence Ever End? 202 -- Middle East-African Interface -- Sudan: A Divided State 204 -- Horn of Africa: War Returns to Ethiopia and Eritrea 207 -- Somalia: Still Ungovernable 210 -- Sub-Saharan Africa: The Impoverished Continent -- Africa: Colonial Past, Present Links 215 -- Angola: Can Reconciliation Ever be Achieved? 218 -- Liberia: Land for the Free 223 -- Sierra Leone: Another Disaster Zone 226 -- Rwanda/Burundi: Tribal Genocide 230 -- Congo: Nearly a Pan-African War 234 -- South Asia: With Nuclear Weapons in the Open -- India and Pakistan: A New Test for Deterrence 238 -- Kashmir: A Case for Independence? 242 -- India's Current and Potential Internal Problems 245 -- Pakistan's Current and Potential Internal Security Problems 252 -- Sri Lanka: No Longer a Paradise 254 -- Myanmar: Drugs and No Human Rights 257 -- East and South-East Asia -- China: Approaching Hegemony or Disintegration? 260 -- Tibet: Will it Ever be Independent Again? 265 -- Taiwan-China: One Country--Two Systems 269 -- Cambodia: Peace at Last? 271 -- Indonesia: Too Large to Remain United? 274 -- East Timor: The Path to Independence 278 -- Koreas: War or Unification 282 -- South China Sea: A Multi-National Problem 287 -- Latin America: Outside the Mainstream -- Panama Canal: A Waterway at Risk 291 -- Falklands or Islas Malvinas 294 -- Colombia: Forty Years of Civil War 298 -- Peru: War with The Shining Path 300 -- Mexico: The Zapatistas and Chiapas 303 -- Space: The New Battlefield -- Defining Space: An Illustrated Glossary 307 -- Military Use of Space 310 -- Anti-Satellite Weapons: War in Space 313 -- Stop Press 315.