The United States continues to be the world’s leading military power. Although little by little the countries that follow have been shortening ground, the North American nation maintains its leadership, according to the ranking that it elaborates GlobalFirePower, a consultancy specializing in Defense issues.
In this classification, where factors such as the availability of troops to act in the face of a war conflict, the power of weapons, logistical capacity or geography are analyzed, there are a total of 140 countries sorted from highest to lowest depending on the score obtained. Russia, China, India and Japan they are the powers that are behind the United States.
But, Why is the United States still a major military power? One of the main reasons is because of its numerous investments in new technological and weapons systems, the large nuclear capacity and a modern air and maritime force.
However, if what we want to know is how many military bases the United States has both in Europe and in the rest of the world, this is a fact that cannot be known with certainty since the Pentagon does not report all its military installations in the world. This explains it Professor David Vine of the American University of Washington.
According to the report published by Vine [[LINK:EXTERNO|||https://dra.american.edu/islandora/object/auislandora%3A94927|||‘Lists of U.S. Military Bases Abroad, 1776-2021 ]][Lista de las bases miliares de EEUU en el extranjero, en español], The United States could have around 750 bases spread in more than 80 countries around the world. However, this figure does not coincide with the report of the Conflict Management and Peace Science Journal [Revista de Ciencias de la Gestión de Conflictos y la Paz] who estimates that in 2020 there were around 173,000 US troops worldwide deployed in 254 military bases and installations.
Japan, the country with the most military personnel
Japan is the area where there are more American soldiers, specifically more than 53,000. Germany follows with 33,900 and South Korea with 26,400. In addition to them, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom also have a large number of localized bases and soldiers, according to World Order.
The US presence in the Asian country began after World War II. Specifically, one of the strategic points and where one of the bloodiest battles was settled was in the Okinawa archipelago. Since then, the United States has never abandoned the islands, establishing 32 military bases there that were used in the wars with Korea and Vietnam or in conflicts such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to this same medium.
What areas are the United States military bases spread over?
Through the map produced by Today’s Military, a website managed by the United States Department of Defense, you can interactively consult where the United States military bases are located. At first glance, a greater number of military bases of all kinds appear in the different regions of the United States.
On the contrary, in Europe they appear more spread out and predominate above all the Air Force, the Army and the Navy. Likewise, in Japan these types of military bases are also present.
Does the United States have military bases in Spain?
Currently, the United States has two military bases in Spain: the Morón de la Frontera air base, in Seville, and the Rota naval base, in Cádiz. In 1953, both the Spanish and US governments reached three agreements, called the Madrid Pacts, which authorized the US Army to settle in four military bases in Spain in exchange for economic and military support, according to World Order.
The United States undertook to renew the aging Spanish war supplies and also managed the Torrejón de Ardoz and Zaragoza air bases, from which it withdrew in 1991 and 1992. However, since Spain joined NATO in 1982, the person in charge of deciding on base operations is the Atlantic Alliance. But the truth is that the difference hardly exists since Washington has great power in the organization, according to the World Order.
Source: Lasexta
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
