Withdrawing from Overseas Bases: Why a Forward-Deployed Military Posture is Unnecessary, Outdated, and Dangerous

28 Pages Posted: 11 Nov 2017

Date Written: July 18, 2017

Abstract

The United States maintains a veritable empire of military bases throughout the world — about 800 of them in more than 70 countries. This forward-deployed military posture incurs substantial costs and disadvantages, exposing the United States to vulnerabilities and unintended consequences. The strategic justifications for overseas bases — that they deter adversaries, reassure allies, and enable rapid deployment operations — have lost much of their value and relevance in the contemporary security environment. In the absence of a major peer competitor, and in an era of low security threats, the policy of maintaining a constant worldwide overseas military presence is unwise. The United States should withdraw its permanent peacetime military presence abroad and abandon its forward-deployed posture in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Keywords: Military bases, overseas military bases, base closure, forward-deployment, foreign policy, national security, War, nuclear non-proliferation, deterrence, reassuring allies, rapid military response, terrorism, blowback, grand strategy, Restraint, Primacy, Europe, Middle East, Asia, East Asia, Russia

JEL Classification: F51, F52

Suggested Citation

Glaser, John, Withdrawing from Overseas Bases: Why a Forward-Deployed Military Posture is Unnecessary, Outdated, and Dangerous (July 18, 2017). Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 816, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3067571

John Glaser (Contact Author)

Cato Institute ( email )

1000 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20001-5403
United States

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