The unifying theme in this section is the remarkable weakness of major faults. I will consider the diverse new evidence for weakness, and the evidence for high pore pressure localized in faults as a fundamental cause. With this background one can better understand why faults remain active even after large rotations with respect to stress: I will look at large Neogene (23.7 million year old) rotations about horizontal axes in the Basin and Range province, and about vertical axes along the Pacific margin. Recent developments will be summarized from studies of Neogene tectonics (neotectonics) in California, Alaska, and the Mississippi embayment, in the context of a weak North American stress field that results mainly from topographic forces. To close, I will present new geophysical studies relevant to the continuing controversy over whether the basic structure of the North American mantle lithosphere was altered by an early Tertiary episode of flat subduction.