The US Military and the Pacific Environment : The Making of an American Lake

The environmental consequences of the US military presence from World War II through the end of the US war in Vietnam.Oceans and deserts, jungles and plains, mountains and rivers, monsoons and blizzards, fertile grounds and diseased lands; all have shaped how strategy and technology has been deployed and developed, and all have supported unexpected victories and decimated even the best-laid plans.Conversely, warfare and militarization have shaped the environment, scarring landscapes, accelerating the global spread of disease, unbalancing ecosystems, and contributing to climate change. Reflecting on the inextricable, reciprocal, and often surprising relationship between the natural world and human warfare, these essays offer a new perspective on power, knowledge, and the environment in US military history. The history of US military engagement in the Pacific powerfully demonstrates the profound and diverse impacts that regions’ extraordinarily diverse environments have wrought on warfar