NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance8.html

The U.S. Global Empire
by Laurence M. Vance


There is a new empire in town, and its global presence is increasing every day.

The kingdom of Alexander the Great reached all the way to the borders of India. The Roman Empire controlled the Celtic regions of Northern Europe and all of the Hellenized states that bordered the Mediterranean. The Mongol Empire, which was the largest contiguous empire in history, stretched from Southeast Asia to Europe. The Byzantine Empire spanned the years 395 to 1453. In the sixteenth century, the Ottoman Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf in the east to Hungary in the northwest; and from Egypt in the south to the Caucasus in the north. At the height of its dominion, the British Empire included almost a quarter of the world’s population.

Nothing, however, compares to the U.S. global empire. What makes U.S. hegemony unique is that it consists, not of control over great land masses or population centers, but of a global presence unlike that of any other country in history.

The extent of the U.S. global empire is almost incalculable. The latest "Base Structure Report" of the Department of Defense states that the Department’s physical assets consist of "more than 600,000 individual buildings and structures, at more than 6,000 locations, on more than 30 million acres." The exact number of locations is then given as 6,702 – divided into large installations (115), medium installations (115), and small installations/locations (6,472). This classification can be deceiving, however, because installations are only classified as small if they have a Plant Replacement Value (PRV) of less than $800 million.

Although most of these locations are in the continental United States, 96 of them are in U.S. territories around the globe, and 702 of them are in foreign countries. But as Chalmers Johnson has documented, the figure of 702 foreign military installations is too low, for it does not include installations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Qatar, and Uzbekistan. Johnson estimates that an honest count would be closer to 1,000.

The number of countries that the United States has a presence in is staggering. According the U.S. Department of State’s list of "Independent States in the World," there are 192 countries in the world, all of which, except Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea, have diplomatic relations with the United States. All of these countries except one (Vatican City) are members of the United Nations. According to the Department of Defense publication, "Active Duty Military Personnel Strengths by Regional Area and by Country," the United States has troops in 135 countries. Here is the list:
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Antigua
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Congo
Costa Rica
Cote D’lvoire
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominican Republic
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji

Finland
France
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guatemala
Guinea
Haiti
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Mali
Malta
Mexico
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia and Montenegro
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovenia
Spain
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

This means that the United States has troops in 70 percent of the world’s countries. The average American could probably not locate half of these 135 countries on a map.

To this list could be added regions like the Indian Ocean territory of Diego Garcia, Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocean island of St. Helena, all still controlled by Great Britain, but not considered sovereign countries. Greenland is also home to U.S. troops, but is technically part of Denmark. Troops in two other regions, Kosovo and Hong Kong, might also be included here, but the DOD’s "Personnel Strengths" document includes U.S. troops in Kosovo under Serbia and U.S. troops in Hong Kong under China.

Possessions of the United States like Guam, Johnston Atoll, Puerto Rico, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, and the Virgin Islands are likewise home to U.S. troops. Guam has over 3,200.

Regular troop strength ranges from a low of 1 in Malawi to a high of 74,796 in Germany. At the time the most recent "Personnel Strengths" was released by the government (September 30, 2003), there were 183,002 troops deployed to Iraq, an unspecified number of which came from U.S. forces in Germany and Italy. The total number of troops deployed abroad as of that date was 252,764, not including U.S. troops in Iraq from the United States. Total military personnel on September 30, 2003, was 1,434,377. This means that 17.6 percent of U.S. military forces were deployed on foreign soil, and certainly over 25 percent if U.S. troops in Iraq from the United States were included. But regardless of how many troops we have in each country, having troops in 135 countries is 135 countries too many.

The U. S. global empire – an empire that Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus, Genghis Khan, Suleiman the Magnificent, Justinian, and King George V would be proud of.

March 16, 2004

Do you expect that the U.S. will ever create a true global empire in name? Or will it continue to exert influence more subtly?

Do you expect that the U.S. will ever create a true global empire in name? Or will it continue to exert influence more subtly?

It'll probably stick with what its got for now.

The US is an empire. It supports dictatorships in various countries even now.

the american empire is clearly expanding to this day, and will probably get more agressive in the future seeing their influence falling away. theyre dangerous in the same way a cornered rat is extremly dangerous.

While there is much complaint about the "American Empire", we must also ask ourselves "Who else is willing and able to take the role of policing the world?"

If you say the UN, apparently you havent seen the Rules of Engagement for UN peacekeeper troops, the inability to react quickly to global threats, and the unwillingness to halt human rights violations with the requisite force. By all means I am a proponent of the UN, but when will it be a viable force for policing the world? It certainly isnt today and I dont know of any other nation capable and willing to do this needed job, as well as accept the hatred it entails.

NO ONE likes to be policed...until something flares up, someone breaks in, etc and then suddenly who do we all run to, demanding action?

While there is much complaint about the "American Empire", we must also ask ourselves "Who else is willing and able to take the role of policing the world?"

If you say the UN, apparently you havent seen the Rules of Engagement for UN peacekeeper troops, the inability to react quickly to global threats, and the unwillingness to halt human rights violations with the requisite force. By all means I am a proponent of the UN, but when will it be a viable force for policing the world? It certainly isnt today and I dont know of any other nation capable and willing to do this needed job, as well as accept the hatred it entails.

NO ONE likes to be policed...until something flares up, someone breaks in, etc and then suddenly who do we all run to, demanding action?

As an addendum: How does this man get off calling the American policing effort an "empire"? I fail to see how we enact tribute, suborn military forces, and generally repopulate the areas as colonies. How do we steal the economic wealth of a nation and ship it home? We don't, we take all the nasty hated jobs and do them, because the other nations involved sure wont.

America is not an "empire" by any means. A HEGEMONY perhaps, and a superpower, but we do not "own" the land we supposedly "occupy". Influence yes, control, no.

I wouldn't say they are an empire exactly but they're well on their way, right now they just have a sphere of influence on, well, the world. So yes you are right.

NO ONE likes to be policed...until something flares up, someone breaks in, etc and then suddenly who do we all run to, demanding action?
maybe there isnt the need for a (self claimed i might add) world police?

maybe there isnt the need for a (self claimed i might add) world police?

Please explain then the situations with genocide in Rwanda, the troubles in Haiti, Pol Pot in Cambodia, and the like. Care to tell me who will enforce human rights law?