ABSTRACT
The quest for global dominance, which included the use of military power, characterized the militarization of the Cold War period. The move to safeguard against ideological incursion both took the demonstration of military technological superiority and insulated a dominant ideology in developed and developing societies. Then, national armed forces were organized to suit their perceptions of threats to such security. However, the end of the Cold War came with the resurgence of nonstate actors, with varying degrees of critical roles in national and international processes. Its end and the onset of the process of globalization have combined in varying forms and intensity in contemporary times to reconfigure our dominant perceptions of national security and defense. Hence, the objective of this chapter is to investigate the impacts of the end of the Cold War and the process of globalization on the character, uses, and application of armed forces as instruments of power in the contemporary international system. The research concludes that the possession of power, resources, and the capacity to convert them does not automatically make for national power. Rather, nations need to optimize their gains from using power resources in order to guide their behavior.
