Before the piracy boom, marine insurers like Lloyd's had no reason to levy premiums to cover war risk (under which piracy falls), kidnapping and ransom.
It follows similar action taken in Europe as governments step in to fill the void left by international insurers that decided following the September 11 attacks on the United States that they would no longer provide war-risk liability.
Starting in the 1950s, paralleling the Korean War, was the increasing risk of nuclear war.
Saddam thought (and said) 20 years ago that after its losses in Vietnam, America would not risk war to rescue Kuwait.
So is there a risk of returning to the situation of May, when there was a widely perceived risk of war?
For many Britons, the decline of nationalism is a good thing, making it easier to improve trade relations and reducing the risk of war.
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Since 1981 we've been committed to seeking fair and verifiable arms agreements that would lower the risk of war and reduce the size of nuclear arsenals.
To be sure, it does not want to risk a war over an action by the other side that falls short of immediate preparation for war.
"The fear of nuclear war has diminished partly because the risk has receded significantly with the end of the Cold War, " says Nick Bostrom, director of Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute.
No doubt, the immediate cause for the sudden rise in the price of oil and gasoline is fear of disruptions in the supply of oil due to unrest in the Middle East and the growing risk of war with Iran.
More to the point, it is inconceivable that the U.S. would ever launch this all-out attack, and risk nuclear war, unless the direct, vital interests of the U.S. were imperiled, and this would not credibly include an attack on Japan alone.
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They said more research is needed to find out if women whose partners served in the war really were at higher risk.
Also at risk from the war next door could be Albania's status as an oasis of religious tolerance in a sea of sectarian hatred.
The cold reality is that the effect has been the opposite, that the increasing length and scope of the war puts us at greater risk.
According to the programme Gen Ashkenazi considered such an attack on Iran, "a strategic mistake" because of the risk of a war, while Mr Dagan deemed it "illegal", saying a full cabinet decision was needed.
Robinson noted that soldiers in the field today are not at risk for Gulf War illness, because the military is no longer using the PB pills or pesticides that led to the illness in 1990 and 1991.
The danger is that each time they clash, even by proxy, they risk turning strategy into war.
Courts have also ruled that act-of-war clauses do not apply where risk can be foreseen when the contract was signed.
Besides, this latest revolution is being conducted under perfect conditions--no inflation, no war and a Fort Knox of risk capital available to all.
Few western politicians would want to explain to their voters why winning a Balkan war is worth even the faintest risk of a nuclear one.
This market has been assured from the highest authority, credible or not, that the European Central Bank (ECB) sees no risk of a currency war and that it must be avoided.
As long as there are journalists willing to risk it all in war zones, there will be books that provide the kind of reportorial insights unavailable from soldiers, the Pentagon and the White House.
"Although there are numerous positive signs of progress in Iraq -- violence has fallen to its lowest level since 2003, its economy is growing modestly, oil production recently surpassed that of Iran, and foreign investment is beginning to restore infrastructure decayed by years of war and sanctions -- the risk of acute instability and renewed conflict remains, " Ollivant said.
And a fifth risk is a looming currency war, fueled by simultaneous Quantitative Easing by central bankers.
And did Estonia's assistance to Georgia, which is not in NATO, risk drawing Estonia into the war, and NATO along with it?
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David Cameron is likely to paint a rather different picture of Labour's stewardship of the economy, blaming them for presiding over the biggest post-war budget deficit and potentially putting at risk Britain's international credit rating.
He was also aware of a more immediate risk in those cold-war days: a smaller visitor (such as the one that had exploded over Siberia in 1908, flattening 2, 000 square miles of forest) might be mistaken by either superpower for a nuclear detonation and trigger Armageddon.
Not only does diversifying minimize risk, but in some cases war can even be good for business.
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