The end of the cold war does not mean the establishment of a more peaceful world order. The well known British socialist theoretician, the editor-in-chief of International Socialism gives a detailed analysis of the economic growth and the changes of power positions in the world since World War II. He proves that the arms build up did not really decrease when certain disarmament treaties were achieved. He shows the key role of mititarism in the capitalist economy without which capital is unable to keep a balance and that it is exactly this, which undermines the economic balance. He calls attention to the dangers of the instability of the international power relations and the competition of the capitalist power centres.

On the basis of his research and the literature of this issue, he answers such questions as: against what do the households have to defend themselves?, what are traditional methods of defence?, whether these work today?, is it an advantage or disadvantage to be backward in development when it comes to defence?, are there methods of defence that can be learnt?, does the economy of households differ from macro-economy? is there a Hungarian specific method of defence by the households?, what are the basic differences of defence between families of different social status?