eli5: Why does USA have military bases and soldiers in many foreign countries?
In: Other
One big reason is that much of the world has allowed the United States to take on a large portion of their defense in exchange for allowing us to station troops there. For instance, of the 32 members of NATO, only about 5 reach the required threshold of spending 2% of their GDP on defense. Most of them have allowed the US to take the burden of defense in exchange for not having to spend that money. Similarly, Japan since WW2 is mostly demilitarized and relies on the US for defense.
This is largely a win-win situation for all sides, as it allows the US to project power across the globe and keep its allies in line with its strategic objectives, and the other countries don’t need to keep large standing armies and stockpiles. Plus, it’s largely contributed to the lack of conflict in the Western world and the lack of major wars in the last century. Without standing armies to wage wars, countries aren’t as bellicose. One reason the Korean War has never reignited is the commitment of the US to defend South Korea from any future incursions from the North. North Korea might be able to take South Korea one-on-one, but there’s no way it could bear the brunt of the full US military.
Other countries like Djibouti who aren’t in our network of mutual defense alliances, but are strategically located, can trade military basing rights for economic or political advantages, and regimes who allow America to station troops in their country give America a stake in keeping them in power, making coups or revolts less likely to succeed.
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