For now, a modicum of peace, if not justice, has returned to the streets of Ferguson, Missouri. National Guard troops have withdrawn, and cops have returned their Kevlar vests, semi-automatic rifles, and landmine-resistant trucks to storage.

On the ground, activists are continuing to mobilize against police violence. Internationally, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Amnesty International have spoken out against the police shooting of Michael Brown, as well as the aggressive response to protests. In Washington, calls for investigations into the police militarization may finally occasion action. Even within the ranks of the police, some have begun to question whether the kind of martial technologies deployed in Ferguson, designed for warzones, provoke more than keep the peace.

Yet we should be skeptical of calls for police reform, particularly when accompanied by cries that this (militarization) should not happen here. A close look at the history of US policing reveals that the line between foreign and domestic has long been blurry. Shipping home tactics and technologies from overseas theaters of imperial engagement has been a typical mode of police reform in the United States. When policing on American streets comes into crisis, law-enforcement leaders look overseas for answers. What transpired in Ferguson is itself a manifestation of reform.