Lahore, 7 Sept.: Oxford University Press launched its publication Wars, Insurgencies, and Terrorist Attacks: A Psychosocial Perspective from the Muslim World written by Unaiza Niaz. The book, launched in Karachi earlier this year, explores in a comprehensive and academic manner the reasons why incidents of terrorist attacks, wars, and insurgencies occur mostly in Muslim countries. By scrutinizing and synthesizing the scientific and professional literature available, the author attempts to understand the dynamics and the political systems in the Muslim World which gives rise to such violence. Different theories of the psychopathologies of terrorism and the theoretical, biological, social and psychological approaches are discussed to better understand this phenomenon. The wars in the Muslim World in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Algeria, Lebanon and the struggle for Kashmir's liberation are examined with a focus on the psychiatric aftermath on the civilians. A chapter on insurgencies in the Muslim World looks in particular at the psychological trauma brought about by violence on the civilian population in Pakistan's FATA region and the NWFP.

Professor (Dr) Unaiza Niaz is a consultant psychiatrist and psychotherapist. She is currently Director, Psychiatric Clinic and Stress Research Center, Karachi; Director, Institute of Psycho-Trauma Pakistan; President, Pakistan Society of Traumatic Stress Studies; and Chair, Section on Women's Mental Health, World Psychiatric Association. Dr Unaiza's research interests include: stress at workplace and aviation industry; psycho-trauma in disasters; medical ethics; women's mental health issues; and the role of media in psychiatry. She has contributed to various journals and authored several publications on issues of women's rights, violence against women, and women's mental health.

The launch ceremony held at the University of Health Sciences, Lahore, was well-attended by mental health professionals, academics, and the media. Speakers at the launch included Raza Rumi, Consulting Editor, The Friday Times, and Professor Mallik Mubbashar, Vice Chancellor, University of Health Sciences. Both were of the view that the book has an optimistic outlook, particularly with regard to the positive roles which can be enacted by mental health professionals. In her welcome address, Ameena Saiyid, Managing Director, Oxford University Press Pakistan, said, "The book we are presenting today deals with a subject which is of universal concern. What could be more relevant to our lives and to peace than a diagnosis of the problems we are facing from a passion that has been manifesting itself in an atmosphere of wars, insurgencies and terrorist attacks?"