Since 1945 there have been over 100 wars, killing over 20 million people. About 50 countries in the world today are faced with war, rebellion, foreign infiltration or terrorism. The first edition of this book predicted the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the rise of independance in Eastern Europe, as well as the break-up of Yugoslavia. This book aims to serve as a work of reference, providing essential facts about current major armed conflicts. It gives a concise history of each conflict, an account of the ideological and political motivation of the participants and their foreign backers, an assessment of the present balance of forces and the degree of popular support, portraits of the major players in the conflict and an estimate of their likely future course. It also provides a full list of wars, coups and assassinations since 1945 - including Mrs Gandhi, Olaf Palme and Lord Mountbatten.