This paper presents a report on Costa Rica, a country that disbanded its army in 1948 and has not formed one since. How can that be? Does Costa Rica have enemies who might attack, and if so what happens then? Do its citizens feel secure? Is Costa Rica's Civil Guard an army for all intents and purposes? Are there private armies and militias coordinated with the Guard? Has Costa Rica become a client state of recent United States regime forces? I argue that Costa Rica provides a noteworthy albeit flawed model of one aspect of peacemaking, civilian-based defense. The paper begins and ends by situating un-imagined history into a re-envisioned model of the nature of humans. Doing so should amplify our idea of that which is possible. The socially constructed can be re-constructed, re-shaped.
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