The end of the Cold War has brought about momentous changes within the armed forces in Western societies. examines these changes by presenting a general theoretical model of national military transformation—what the editors define as the "postmodern" military. This book examines contemporary civil-military trends by looking at the militaries of the United States and twelve other Western democracies. An international team of leading military sociologists assesses the postmodern thesis in Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. gives the general reader an opportunity to learn what life is really like in today's military and how it is both the same and different around the world.