Inter-Service competition replaced the "unification” that was envisioned with the formation of a Department of Defense composed of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Truman pulled hard for unification, giving the repeated justification that it spelled efficiency and budget savings. A statement was issued in Key West in March 1948 differentiating between "primary” and "collateral” functions of each service, but strife resulted over that and other issues culminating in the "Revolt of the Admirals.” Competition helped make America great but it becomes perilous when the Services intentionally oppose each other. Inter-Service rivalry is usually at a peak in times of fiscal austerity, and we are in times now that are called the worst since the Great Depression. Yet the needs remain. Harm will accrue to national and international security if civilian and military leaders slip back into the recriminations and skulduggery of 1949.

The global recession, domestic stagnation, internal political stresses, and the emergence of China have intensified longstanding challenges to the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. Tokyo has been transforming its instruments of national power accordingly, and the most comprehensive change was the new national security strategy announced in December 2010, establishing a defense force whose use of multifunctional and flexible capabilities enable dynamic deterrence. U.S. Pacific Command can use the evolution of Japan’s security strategy to enhance its own influence as well as better serve regional security needs. Tokyo’s determination to pursue its own strategic direction is reflected in its annual budget, which allots over 1 percent of GDP to acquisitions programs and capability development, and is in fact a positive development for Asia-Pacific stability.

Climate change will often affect countries that lack the capacity to deal with its impacts. The internal stresses will be dangerous for those countries, and the demands on outside parties that step in to assist will be great. The Department of Defense will inevitably be a major player, and it must center its effort on preparing its allies and partners to get ready for, and cope with, environmental changes and their consequences. The wars the Nation is fighting make many loath to dedicate resources to climate change, yet until the adjustment is made, disasters will continue to occur and security crises will be the spinoff. Attention to this looming source of trouble now will make Washington more prepared for response, redirect the U.S. military toward the most likely scenarios, enhance the international security environment, and strengthen the Nation’s global standing.