How and why the three losers of the Second World War reconsidered their pacifism, embraced a more active military role and transformed their armed forces after the Cold War

Analysis of the process of military transformation in Italy, Germany and Japan
Addresses the impact of historical legacies on the pacing and direction of transformation
Looks at the transformation of military doctrine and force structure over three decades
Assesses the impact of different external and internal factors in military transformation

While armed forces in several countries underwent deep transformations after the end of the Cold War, few if any, however, experiences more radical changes than Germany and Italy, and Japan.

The book explores how the three countries modified posture and structure of their militaries over the past three decades. While the three countries all had to overcome a pacifist constitution, a widespread view in both elites and public opinion that that war was a taboo, and armed forces designed to defend and deter against large-scale threats, they all became more active security providers over the last decades. Each country followed a distinct path, though. The book reconstructs these paths, trying to show how a mix of external and domestic factors affected the pace and the extent of transformations.

The book also identifies critical junctures in such process: any push to change it is argued is mediated by the need to come to terms with the cumbersone weight of the past.