Counting the cost of war

For as long as insurance has existed, companies, states and individuals have purchased policies to protect against war. Britain and France have long provided war insurance to companies, and America passed the War Risk Insurance Act in 1914 to provide marine insurance during World War I. Unfortunately, war risk has not disappeared and new types of man-made risk have yielded the development of related insurance products, such as terrorism insurance.  The Middle East has long been prone to war and terrorism risk. As a consequence, the Arab War Risks Insurance Syndicate (AWRIS) was created in 1980 by a group of Middle Eastern insurance and reinsurance companies. The syndicate boasts a broad membership of 170 companies from 19 Arab countries; 21 board members hail from Lebanon alone. AWRIS collected a net premium of $21.7 million in 2008 and held $41.2 million in reserves in 2008. Total assets under management are approximately