Dan Kaszeta’s book traces the journey of nerve agents from their initial discovery in WW-II era Germany to their eventual spread around the world. The author explores their chronological development while deep-diving into specific chemical weapons programs on a topical basis. The book begins with the prologue explaining the use of the Calabar bean as a method to determine guilt in judicial proceedings in West Africa during the mid-1800s.

The terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001 shocked the international community. Terrorism, which by and large was considered a phenomena limited to Middle east and South Asia, was threatening the worlds most rich and powerful — the United States. The initial response to these terrorist acts was a knee-jerk military attack led by the US on the bases of al-Qaeda and its host Taliban in Afghanistan.

Political risk insurance (PRI) has become an essential but indispensable part of business in the era of globalization. In simple terms, PRI compensates companies for lost assets when operating outside their own countries - providing protection against risks.

The history of Punjabi culture, which the author has explored in his book, is based on an array of sources, primarily from poetry and religious texts, which gives some clues as to how such an alternative approach could be nurtured to improve relations between India and Pakistan. 

The book deals with the issue of Islamic militancy in India’s Northeast region in general and Assam in particular. The author is an old hand in observing the affairs of India’s Northeast and this time around he has come up with an excellent analysis of the simmering problems of militancy in this part of India.

The world has changed a lot since September 11, 2001. A new government under the leadership of Hamid Karzai is ruling Afghanistan, which was earlier ruled by the Taliban and acted as a haven for Al-Qaeda. Iraq is under US control, and Libya has agreed to mend its ways. The initial knee-jerk reaction of revenge for the death and destruction caused by the September 11 attacks by the Americans has given way to a desire to understand the reasons behind these attacks. A wide variety of literature was produced globally, each attempting to explain the turn of events from its own perspective. Akbar S. Ahmed’s ‘Islam Under Siege’ is one such book that tries to answer some questions and clear certain misconceptions regarding the role of Islam in perpetuating this crisis.

The Maoist insurgency in India (also known as Naxalite), which was started at Naxalbari in the Darjiling district of West Bengal in 1967, has now spread to 159 districts in fourteen states. They have virtually spread over 20 per cent of the total districts in India. Till the end of year 2004, Naxalite violence had claimed 518 lives in 1,140 incidents against 348 deaths in 1,138 incidents in the corresponding period last year. The Naxalite problem is in certain respects more serious than the Kashmir problem.

The threat of Climate Change can not be resolved adequately with the existing classical security policy tools. This observation is conveyed by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU)’s New Report Climate Change as a Security Risk. The Report concludes without resolute counteraction, climate change will overstretch many societies’ adaptive capacities.

In almost all cultures and societies, the stereotypical vision of war has been persistent; women are supposed to be the outsiders of war. War is men’s business. They go to the front, do the fighting, take the risks and make the decisions. Women stay at home, take care of the children and keep the home fires burning, waiting for their soldier husbands to come home. In War and Gender, Joshua Goldstein, attempts addressing the “near-total exclusion of women from combat” over time and across cultures.