| Embattled Garrisons: Comparative Base Politics and American Globalism Contributor(s): Calder, Kent E. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0691134634 ISBN-13: 9780691134635 Publisher: Princeton University Press OUR PRICE: $32.30 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2008 Annotation: "This is a solid book that does a nice job with a number of aspects of bases--historical, economic, military, strategic. Calder has worked on enough of these various aspects to have a good feel for them, and it shows. His work is balanced, sophisticated, and policy relevant. He provides just the right level of detail--enough to make his argument cogently and robustly."--Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution "A first-class piece of work. Calder is very convincing in demonstrating that base politics play a significant role in the relations between the United States and the nations that host American bases. His case studies are full of interesting and often unfamiliar aspects of U.S. foreign relations, in many instances regarding the stresses that often arise from the presence of an American base in a foreign country."--Michael Klare, Hampshire College |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Political Science | Security (national & International) - Political Science | International Relations - General - History | Military - United States |
| Dewey: 355.7 |
| LCCN: 2007023217 |
| Physical Information: 0.81" H x 6.4" W x 9.2" (1.07 lbs) 336 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: The overseas basing of troops has been a central pillar of American military strategy since World War II--and a controversial one. Are these bases truly essential to protecting the United States at home and securing its interests abroad--for example in the Middle East-or do they needlessly provoke anti-Americanism and entangle us in the domestic woes of host countries? Embattled Garrisons takes up this question and examines the strategic, political, and social forces that will determine the future of American overseas basing in key regions around the world. Kent Calder traces the history of overseas bases from their beginnings in World War II through the cold war to the present day, comparing the different challenges the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union have confronted. Providing the broad historical and comparative context needed to understand what is at stake in overseas basing, Calder gives detailed case studies of American bases in Japan, Italy, Turkey, the Philippines, Spain, South Korea, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. He highlights the vulnerability of American bases to political shifts in their host nations--in emerging democracies especially--but finds that an American presence can generally be tolerated when identified with political liberation rather than imperial succession.Embattled Garrisons shows how the origins of basing relationships crucially shape long-term prospects for success, and it offers a means to assess America's prospects for a sustained global presence in the future. |
