To me the biggest concern with having different boundaries has to do with much needed integration and coordination at the inter-agency level. No matter how the map is divided up, each region should have a:

  • Director of Regional Foreign Policy

Who is supported by:
  1. Unified Combatant Commander (from DoD)
  2. Deputy Director of Regional Aid and Development (from USAID)
  3. Deputy Director of Regional Affairs (from State)


Everybody looks at the same map, works with the same people, out of the same office. Major NGOs and regional powers are invited to send liasons to the Regional Commands. Maybe they don't get a seat at the briefing table all the time, but if the PACOM commander wants to coordinate Tsunami relief efforts with PLAN, they should be able to do that because they already have a working relationship.