New and Old Wars: Organized Violence in a Global Era. By Mary Kaldor. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999. 192p. $45.00 cloth, $16.95 paper.

The 1990s were characterized by a substantial increase in the number of ethnic conflicts within states. The international community, especially the United Nations, responded by intervening to prevent or resolve violence but frequently failed to do so. Mary Kaldor attempts to explain why identity-based violence has increased and why the interna- tional community's actions have so often failed.