A foreign-base race could put other nations’ bases near U.S. borders

Evidence

Given the danger of foreign base races, the United States would be wise to use its current position of relative strength to propose and negotiate an international ban on foreign bases except under the strictest of circumstances and under the most transparent of conditions. Forgoing such a proposal now runs the risk of other countries’ acquiring bases in larger numbers and far closer to U.S. borders. A bases ban would need to allow for the creation of alliances and the establishment of foreign bases by explicit and transparent invitation when a country is under attack or facing a direct, credible threat. It could also make allowances for pre-positioning sites that could be monitored by UN inspectors and allow for the storage of military matériel around the world to be used only in UN-sanctioned peacekeeping operations. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 1079

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

Related

• A foreign-base arms race could eventually bring bases closer to the United States. (similarity 0.92)
• Bases near rival borders provoke arms races and discourage diplomacy (similarity 0.87)
• US bases near China and Russia borders raise confrontation risk (similarity 0.82)
• The reciprocal scenario of foreign bases in America is unthinkable (similarity 0.81)
• New U.S. bases near rivals may create the very threats they aim to counter. (similarity 0.80)
• US overseas bases make war more likely by easing military action (similarity 0.80)
• Hosting US bases makes host countries targets for attack (similarity 0.79)
• Overseas bases make war more likely by lowering its cost (similarity 0.79)
• Offshore bases lower the threshold for launching interventionist wars (similarity 0.79)
• New bases near China and Russia may create the threats they guard against (similarity 0.78)
• Postwar decolonization threatened to strip the U.S. of overseas bases (similarity 0.78)
• Base site selection tracks landowner powerlessness more than strategic need. (similarity 0.78)