The Burden Of
Empire
By Laurence M. Vance
18 March, 2004
Vance Publications
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 worlds 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 Departments
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 States 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
Azerbaijan
Australia
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Antigua
Argentina
Azerbaijan
Australia
Austria
Bahamas
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belgium
Belize
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma
Burundi
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Chad
Chile
China
Columbia
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
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Jamaica
Japan
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Liberia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Mali
Malaysia
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
Singapore
Sierra Leone
Slovenia
Spain
South Africa
South Korea
Sri Lanka
Suriname
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
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 DODs "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.
Laurence
M. Vance teaches Greek at Pensacola Bible Institute in Pensacola,
FL. Visit his website http://www.vancepublications.com/
© 2004 Laurence
M. Vance