Today the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard released “A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower”, a unified maritime strategy signed, for the first time, by all three of the sea services. The tag-line:
Security. Stability. Seapower.
Whatever your feelings about U.S. foreign policy, it makes sense for these services to coordinate their efforts, maximizing effectiveness and efficiency, so I’m all for it. I also appreciate the emphasis on humanitarian assistance and on preventing wars in addition to winning wars. All in all, it sounds like a move in the right direction. These priorities were evident during my recent visit to the Joint Harbor Operations Center.
In fact, my only real reservation stems from the overly “glitzy” presentation, particularly the video. It’s great to include video with high-end production values to go along with the announcement, but this seems almost TOO good. It feels like a car commercial or a movie trailer (particularly with the “Pirates of the Caribbean”-style score), very “corporate”, and therefore it comes across as somehow less than genuine. I’m concerned that this video could evoke skepticism, even cynicism, amongst viewers who might otherwise be very supportive of the new maritime strategy.
It could play poorly with international viewers, as well, particularly when they also read a passage like “the strategy draws the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard even closer together in working to protect and sustain the American Way of Life.” It sounds a little too “making the world safe for democracy”, know what I mean? But heck, I live in Seattle, so maybe I’ve just been conditioned to be sensitive to this sort of thing. 
