ABSTRACT
C. Vann Woodward may have had in mind the inconclusive ending of the Korean conflict of the early 1950s or of any number of other "little" wars, both civil and colonial, that had marked the first six decades of the century. The immediate aftermath of the cold war raised terrible possibilities in three areas of world politics: the potential spread of nuclear weapons, violent social disintegration, and armed aggression. The Soviet leader launched impressive unilateral initiatives to defuse the military confrontations of the cold war. These included ending the Soviet intervention in the civil war in Afghanistan, a rapprochement with the government of China, the withdrawal of half a million troops from Eastern Europe, and a self-imposed ban on further nuclear testing. A truly defensive capability is a civilian-based defense (CBD). Its purpose is to prepare an entire society, not just its military arm, in the myriad techniques of resistance against an invader or would-be usurper of power.
