USA bases worldwide why?

[Confederate Kahanist]

Is this even a good idea?

[Lewinsky Stinks, Dr. Brennan Rocks]

Do we really have a base in Israel?

[syyuge]

Such bases may start proving costlier in the days of struggling and receding economy.

[muman613]

In order for the US to remain a superpower the country needs to be able to project military strength to any corner of the world. During the cold-war this was essential to maintain the peace since the USSR was expanding and testing Americas ability to respond to flare-ups around the globe.

In theory I believe these bases are a good thing. During WWII America had a big problem being able to respond to the Japanese in the China Sea because of the lack of bases in the area. It was a long hard haul to establish island bases to operate from (see the battle of Midway, etc.)

[muman613]

Here is a discussion of this topic..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_projection

Power projection (or force projection) is a term used in military and political science to refer to the capacity of a state to conduct expeditionary warfare, i.e. to intimidate other nations and implement policy by means of force, or the threat thereof, in an area distant from its own territory. This ability is a crucial element of a state's power in international relations. Any state able to direct its military forces outside the limited bounds of its territory might be said to have some level of power projection capability, but the term itself is used most frequently in reference to militaries with a worldwide reach (or at least significantly broader than a state's immediate area). Even states with sizable hard power assets (such as a large standing army) may only be able to exert limited regional influence so long as they lack the means of effectively projecting their power on a global scale. Generally, only a select few states are able to overcome the logistical difficulties inherent in the deployment and direction of a modern, mechanized military force.

While traditional measures of power projection typically focus on hard power assets (tanks, soldiers, aircraft, naval vessels, etc.), the developing theory of soft power notes that power projection does not necessarily have to involve the active use of military forces in combat. Assets for power projection can often serve dual uses, as the deployment of various countries' militaries during the humanitarian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake illustrates. The ability of a state to project its forces into an area may serve as an effective diplomatic lever, influencing the decision-making process and acting as a potential deterrent on other states' behavior.
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Types

Scholars have disaggregated military power projection into nine different aspects based on the political goals being sought and the level of force employed: Four of these relate to the employment of "soft" military power (securing sea lanes of communication, non-combatant evacuation operations, humanitarian response, and peacekeeping) and five are primarily concerned with "hard" military power (showing the flag, compellence/deterrence, punishment, armed intervention and conquest.) [1]

Soft power projection

* Securing sea lanes of communication: the protection of shipping lanes from attack by hostile states or irregular threats.

* Non-combatant evacuation operations: the evacuation of citizens or friendly third country civilians from a foreign country when they are endangered by war or civil unrest.

* Humanitarian response: the use of military forces abroad to assist in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

* Peace-keeping: military operations designed to support diplomatic efforts to reach a long-term political settlement to an on-going dispute.

Hard power projection

* Showing the flag: the symbolic deployment of military forces to a region for the purposes of demonstrating political interest, resolve, or willingness to take more forceful military action.

* Compulsion/deterrence: the use of the threat of military force against another state to either induce it into or dissuade it from pursuing a given policy. In this form, power projection acts as a diplomatic tool, attempting to influence the decision-making process of foreign actors.

* Punishment: the punitive use of force against another state in response to their pursuit of a given policy.

* Armed intervention: the movement of military forces into another nation’s territory for the purposes of influencing the internal affairs of the target country short of outright conquest.

* Conquest: the offensive use of military assets to forcibly occupy territory controlled or claimed by another state.