the threat of global conflict in this day and age has dimished but the cold war mentality has persisted.
While that's true, I think it is misrepresentative.
The Cold War was in some ways safer than the environment we have today. There were two (main) known players, and the threat of mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War from becoming hot. Now we have one known (main) player- the US, and a number of unknowns. You can't threaten mutually assured destruction upon Al Qaeda because it isn't a nation state.
So while the threat of global conflict has diminished, the threat of conflict has not. In many ways it has become a lot more complicated.
While that's true, I think it is misrepresentative.
The Cold War was in some ways safer than the environment we have today. There were two (main) known players, and the threat of mutually assured destruction kept the Cold War from becoming hot. Now we have one known (main) player- the US, and a number of unknowns. You can't threaten mutually assured destruction upon Al Qaeda because it isn't a nation state.
So while the threat of global conflict has diminished, the threat of conflict has not. In many ways it has become a lot more complicated.