<P> In the meantime, sensitive materials have to be safely and securely stored, pending their conversion to non-military use . In particular, the successor states of the former Soviet Union were generally not in a position to finance and maintain secure safeguards when the Cold War came to such an unprepared and relatively sudden end . </P> <P> National security and defense for nuclear - weapons states must be frequently reevaluated . The international arms - control treaty and verification regime inherited from the Cold War is only slowly being updated to reflect the realities of a broken international security environment . </P> <P> Internal national - security military postures still dominate behavior among sovereign nations . The former superpowers have not formally consummated their stand - down from Cold War military equipoise . </P> <P> Strategic and tactical nuclear and conventional forces remain at levels comparatively high for a peacetime environment . Localized conflicts and tensions have replaced the former bilateral nuclear confrontation . </P>

Social political and economic effects of the cold war