With the recent declassification of secret documents new light has been shed on old mysteries. For example, we now know that what might be termed the "JFK assassination conspiracy industry" was deliberately fueled and manipulated by the KGB so as to distract the CIA and undermine confidence in successive U.S. administrations. Also, new evidence continues to emerge of Vladimir Putin’s commitment to the extra-judicial elimination of "extremists" overseas, as legitimized by the Duma in July 2006. Controversially, the legislation included a definition of “extremists” as "those slandering the individual occupying the post of president of the Russian Federation”.

The Encyclopedia of Political Assassinations contains a chronology, an introduction, and appendixes. The encyclopedia section has more than 700 cross-referenced entries on assassinations, intelligence agencies, politics and foreign relations.