Contemporary world history has highlighted militarization in many ways, from the global Cold War and numerous regional conflicts to the general assumption that nationhood implies a significant and growing military. Yet the twentieth century also offers notable examples of large-scale demilitarization, both imposed and voluntary. Demilitarization in the Contemporary World fills a key gap in current historical understanding by examining demilitarization programs in Germany, Japan, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica. Contributors investigate factors such as military defeat, border security risks, economic pressures, and the development of strong peace cultures among citizenry. Exemplifying the political difficulties of demilitarization in both its failures and successes, Demilitarization in the Contemporary World provides a possible roadmap for future policies and practices.

Historical and sociological perspectives -- Introduction / Peter N. Stearns -- Demilitarization: unraveling the structures of violence / Andrew Bickford -- Germany -- The demilitarization of Germany, 1945-2010 / Jay Lockenour -- Peace movements and the demilitarization of German political culture, 1970s-1980s / Holger Nehring -- Japan and comparative aftermath -- U.S. strategic preference for securing military bases and impact of Japanese financial community on constrained rearmament in Japan, 1945-1954 / Yoneyuki Sugita -- From demilitarization to remilitarization: external and internal pressures on Japanese security policy / Glenn D. Hook -- Japanese remilitarization and constitutional revision / Christopher Hughes -- Demilitarization and democratization in the post-World War II world / Stephanie Trombley Averill -- Central America -- Costa Rica and Honduras: demilitarization as choice / Kirk Bowman -- Demilitarization after Central American civil wars / J. Mark Ruhl and Philip J. Williams -- Afterword / Peter N. Stearns.