India`as North East presents a bewildering picture to the policy makers, outsiders as well as to the local population. On the one hand, the natural beauty and rich cultural mix offer a touristic paradise. On the other, innumerable insurgent movements raging in the region deter people from exploring and investing in this region. However, the tired narrative of exclusivist ethnic homelands propagaged by the insurgent appears out of sync with reality in an era of growing interconnectivity and globalization, New Delhi efforts to develop the region coupled withh the realizationh longst nOrth Eastern societies that ethnic insurgencies based on nostalgic interpretation of the past are creating enormous obstacles for rapid development of the region also reinforces this thinking. About Author : Dr. Pushpita Das is an Associate Fellow in the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Her area of research includes issues relating to India's North East and Border Management. Dr. Namrata Goswami s an Associate Fellow in the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi. Her area of research includes international relations theory, ethnic and intra-state conflicts and the theory and practice of conflict prevention management and resolution. Contents : Preface Contributors Part I: Insurgency and Counter Insurgency IDSA's Focus on North East Funding the Struggle: Political Economy of Insurgency Changing Scenario of Insurgency in Manipur Civil Society and Democratic Space in the North East: A Perspective Part II: Identity and Conflict Acculturation and Development Programmes: A Pschological Analysis Accomodating 'The Third Voice' in Conflict Zones Tribal Extremism and Approach to Peace and Development in Tripura The Naga Rebel Groups' Narratives of Dissent: A Critique Part-II