Bases are sited where land acquisition is easiest, on marginalized populations.

Evidence

In her study of Vieques, Katherine McCaffrey notes that “bases are frequently established on the political margins of national territory, on lands occupied by ethnic or cultural minorities or otherwise disadvantaged populations.” While the military is generally driven by strategic considerations when deciding what regions should have bases, within a given region the selection of specific base locations is heavily influenced by the ease of land acquisition. The ease with which the military can acquire land tends to be strongly linked to the relative powerlessness of that land’s inhabitants, which in turn is usually linked to factors such as their nationality, skin color, and population size. — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 213

Categorization

• XREF: Connects directly to the pattern of base siting explored throughout this book and to land-grab dynamics in territorial expansion more broadly.
• DEFINE: McCaffrey’s framework links base location choices to land-acquisition ease and local powerlessness, defining a model for understanding base siting.