World at Risk provides international coverage through an examination of current global issues. This extensive sourcebook is arranged by global issue in A-to-Z format. The book includes 30 entries on hot topics such as human rights, population, literacy and educational access, energy, terrorism, war crimes, and much more.
Each topic entry includes:
- Introduction - Introduces and defines the issue in a global context.
- Historical Development - Situates the issue historically within the international community.
- Current Research, Policies, and Programs - Summary of the latest studies and research on the issue, such as reports from non-governmental organizations (NGO's), key scholarly research, as well as a brief synopsis of the types of policies and programs that have been developed to answer the problems raised by the issue.
- Global Map - Illustration of key statistical performance benchmarks concerning the issue.
- Regional Summaries and Statistics - Analysis of the impact the issue has had on specific regions around the world.
- Case Study - One or two local close-ups on the issue that show how it has affected a specific community, country, or region.
- Biographical Dictionary - Brief biographies of historical and contemporary individuals who have helped shaped the thinking and action concerning the issue throughout the world.
- Directory - A list of the relevant agencies, lobbying groups, and organizations with contact information.
- Further Research - A section that directs readers to books, reports, magazines, newspaper articles, and Web sites where they can learn more about the subject.
- Documents - The most important documents relating to findings and research such as programmatic statements and legislation.
Illustrations, tables, appendices, and an index are also provided. This ready reference will be most useful to academic, public, and high school libraries and their patrons.