Ending the Cold War at home

If the Cold War is really over, why is the United States still spending near record high amounts of money on defense? Now that we no longer fear war with another global superpower, why are we putting U.S. troops in harm's way all over the globe? After the President and Congress pledged to shift our focus from international to domestic issues, why aren't we converting more economic resources away from the military infrastructure to meet human needs at home? The answers to these questions, asserts Sam Marullo, lie in the institutional structures created over the last four decades and still in operation today. Despite the fall of the Berlin Wall and the rise of independent Soviet states, the United States' Cold War political, cultural, economic, and military infrastructure remain virtually unchanged. After unveiling the individual and organizational values which support the Cold War's defense industry, government agencies, media, language, and ideology, Marullo proposes reforms to end our domestic Cold War. His recommendations include increasing Congressional oversight and civilian involvement in foreign and military policy making, strengthening The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, the U.S. Peace Institute, and other peace keeping institutions, declassifying government documents and weapons development, introducing peace education into the schools, and bolstering the authority of the World Court, the United Nations, and international law. Only by changing our attitudes and the ways our institutions operate, can we finally win the Cold War.