The end of the Cold War initiated major changes in the global security environment that the United States could not ignore. These changes affected security requirements, forces, and missions that had guided the country since the end of World War II. Another "New Look" was needed, one that recognized the uncertainty inherent in the absence of a single rival power. Domestic pressures for a "peace dividend" provided additional impetus for a comprehensive restructuring of the nation's defenses. Army leaders responded almost immediately, agreeing that a more flexible, more technology-capable...

World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. However, the half century that now separates us from that conflict has exacted its toll on our collective knowledge. While World War II continues to absorb the interest of military scholars and historians, as well as its veterans, a generation of Americans has grown to maturity largely unaware of the political, social, and military implications of a war that, more than any other, united us as a people with a common purpose. Highly relevant today, World War II has much to teach us, not only about the...