A quarter of a million U.S. troops are massed in over seven hundred major official overseas airbases around the world. In the past decade, the Pentagon has formulated and enacted a plan to realign, or reconfigure, its bases in keeping with new doctrines of pre-emption and intensified concern with strategic resource control, all with seemingly little concern for the surrounding geography and its inhabitants. The contributors in The Bases of Empire trace the political, environmental, and economic impact of these bases on their surrounding communities across the globe, including Latin America, Europe, and Asia, where opposition to the United States' presence has been longstanding and widespread, and is growing rapidly. Through sharp analysis and critique, The Bases of Empire illuminates the vigorous campaigns to hold the United States accountable for the damage its bases cause in allied countries as well as in war zones, and offers ways to reorient security policies in other, more humane, and truly secure directions. Contributors: Julian Aguon, Kozue Akibayashi, Ayse Gul Altinay, Tom Engelhardt, Cynthia Enloe, Joseph Gerson, David Heller, Amy Holmes, Laura Jeffery, Kyle Kajihiro, Hans Lammerant, John Lindsay-Poland, Catherine Lutz, Katherine McCaffrey, Roland G. Simbulan, Suzuyo Takazato, and David Vine.
List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Foreword - Cynthia EnloeIntroduction: Bases, Empire, and Global ResponseCatherine LutzPart I: Mapping U.S. Power 1. U.S. Foreign Military Bases and Military Colonialism: Personal and Analytical Perspectives Joseph Gerson 2. U.S. Military Bases in Latin America and the Caribbean John Lindsay-Poland 3. U.S. Nuclear Weapons Bases in Europe David Heller and Hans Lammerant 4. Iraq as a Pentagon Construction Site Tom EngelhardtPart II: Global Resistance 5. People's Movement Responses to Evolving U.S. Military Activities in the Philippines Roland G. Simbulan 6. "Give Us Back Diego Garcia": Unity and Division among Activists in the Indian Ocean David Vine and Laura JefferyTHE BASES OF EMPIRE 7. Environmental Struggle after the Cold War: New Forms of Resistance to the U.S. Military in Vieques, Puerto Rico Katherine T. McCaffrey 8. Okinawa: Women's Struggle for Demilitarization Kozue Akibayashi and Suzuyo Takazato 9. Opposition to the U.S. Military Presence in Turkey in the Context of the Iraq War Ays,e Gul Altinay and Amy Holmes10. Resisting Militarization in Hawai'i Kyle KajihiroAfterword: Down Here Julian AguonList of ContributorsIndex
