eli5: Why does USA have military bases and soldiers in many foreign countries?
In: Other
Ultimately it comes down to logistics, and it’s the same reason Amazon has tons of warehouses all over stocked with the same things. If someone in Wisonsin wants a new toy it’s much easier to just have a warehouse with that toy somewhere in Wisconsin than it is to ship it from, say California or New York.
Similarly, if the US needs to provide assistance somewhere in the world (whether that’s humanitarian or militaristic) it’s much easier to do so by calling upon the bases nearest to the location than it is to call all the troops to a base state-side and then fly or ship all of them, their equipment and supplies. It cuts response time down from days or weeks to hours.
Strategically, it also acts as a form of deterrence from anyone attacking the country hosting the US base. Anyone who attacked a US base would be opening up a whole other level of response than what the host country might be able to provide. Lastly, the US sells a lot of military vehicles and hardware – those bases often act as training and repair depots for that equipment which helps us keep track of it all and better train the purchasing country to use it effectively.
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