Recently, citizens of Okinawa, Japan protested the United States’ military presence on
the island.
Most were concerned that a Marine Corps base posed a danger to nearby residents, and some
held signs saying “ get out marines!”
But Japan is not the only country currently hosting US defense forces.
So how many military bases does the U.S. have?
Politifact found that in 2011, there were US military personnel in 148 countries, and
there were roughly 662 US bases officially listed, around the world.
But the amount of American military personnel and bases on foreign land varied widely.
Nations like Mongolia, Togo, Suriname and Gabon, may have less than 10 officials stationed
there.
OTHER countries including the United Kingdom, Turkey, and Bahrain have more than a thousand
US military personnel.
Also, American BASES outside the US can range from small sites with a radio relay tower,
to huge, multi-million dollar complexes.
Often the US only counts its bases that are worth more than $10 million dollars, and situated
on tracts of land larger than 10 acres.
Why does the US have so many bases?
Well, before and during the Cold War, the US made mutually beneficial agreements with
several other nations - chiefly Germany, Japan and South Korea.
These countries allowed the US to establish a military presence within their borders,
while the US promised to defend them.
This was especially crucial half a century ago, when Russia and China were trying to
expand territory and threatening the security of several nations.
Presently, the US is still unwilling to disband many of their foreign sites.
And they officially have more military bases outside their country than any other nation.
But there has been a growing push to do away with many unnecessary bases.
On one side, the residents of foreign nations, like Japan, don’t want or need outside military
intervention anymore.
And on the other side, Americans have expressed frustration in paying billions of dollars
in annual taxes, to support so many bases.
With the war in Afghanistan winding down, it is probable that the number of American
military sites in foreign nations will decline in the coming years.
Many critics of the global US military presence have noted that it’s actually a huge contributing
factor to the rise of terrorism around the world.
To learn more about this subject, check out our video here.
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