ABSTRACT
Nuclear parity or stalemate has brought to the fore the modernization of conventional capabilities, which both the US and its NATO allies are increasingly hard-pressed to provide in the face of sharp political-economic constraints. A new regime in the Kremlin is equally pressed to modernize its civilian economy and military establishment simultaneously and has displayed an unprecedented "glasnost" about arms control and arms reductions. FEMA has capabilities which should be expanded and better utilized, but it is currently too small and too far-removed from the locus of policy to be the lead agency. State, Treasury and Commerce are likewise too preoccupied with their own particular trees to see the whole forest. In wartime or all-out mobilization FEMA's role should be expanded to make it in fact the senior operating agency responsible for allocation of national resources and for coordinating allied efforts in this regard.
