Q&A · 1:11:48-1:12:08

Canada as a caution against fully unified armed services

Canada supplies a counterexample to the suggestion that merging the armed services would remove their coordination problems.

Question

Would combining every military branch into one unified service stop interservice problems?

Short answer

The objection is Canada's experience, described here as a difficult effort to separate previously unified forces; Australia is suggested less certainly as a similar case.

Notes

A proposal to combine all the armed services assumes that a unified institution would remove interservice problems. Dr. Clarke objects using Canada, describing its previously unified forces as undergoing a difficult process of separation. He tentatively suggests that Australia is moving in a similar direction. The Canadian example is his reason for doubting that complete institutional unification provides a straightforward solution.