ABSTRACT
The dramatic, unprecedented, and largely unforeseen end of the Cold War has profoundly and adversely affected the intellectual foundations of American national security policy. The outcome of that debate will have enormous implications for American national security policy and the strategy and forces that implement that policy. The opportunities for military activity reside overwhelmingly in the third world, especially Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In this part of the world, American vital interests are almost exclusively in resource access. What may well come to be known as the Gorbachev Transition in international politics saw seismic changes that dismantled the structures and rules of the post–World War II system and laid open the way for a new set of relations for the post–Cold War world. One of the most remarkable aspects of the end of the Cold War was how poorly it was anticipated.
