American Soldiers Overseas: The Global Military Presence

(Hardback)

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Over the past 60 years, the US armed forces have created a web of military bases all over the world, from Australia to Iceland to Saudi Arabia. This is the aspect of military service that the majority of soldiers know and remember. Interaction between US personnel and local populations is almost a given, and it is inevitable that the American and host communities will influence each other in numerous ways. This book looks at the history and impact of American military communities overseas. It discusses how U.S. bases affected economic and political life in the host communities, how host societies shape the profile and activities of military communities, and what happens when relations break down. Through case studies of communities around the world, Baker shows that the US armed forces have had a surprisingly large impact - both positive and negative - on the affairs of many host societies, including economic revitalization, cultural change, and, sometimes, tragic social consequences.

Reviews

"Anni Baker has done a great service by highlighting a most significant, but rarely understood feature of American foreign policy. Armed with clear prose, this is a work of impressive historical detail and geographic scope.... This book offers profound lessons that are more timely than ever. - Charles Moskos, Professor of Sociology, Northwestern University. The question of how others perceive the United States, its leadership, and its citizens has long occupied the attention of scholars.... So, too, has the inseparable question of what influences how others perceive the United States... One robust influence is the stationing of U.S. armed forces throughout the globe. Baker has produced a pioneering history of the effects of the global presence of the U.S. military throughout the Cold War. We can learn much from it about then - and about now. - Richard H. Immerman, Chair of History, Temple University."

Author Bio

ANNI P. BAKER is Assistant Professor of History at Wheaton College. She has also taught at Boston College. Her other publications include Wiesbaden and the Americans, 1945-2003: A History (2003). She is currently working on a study of U.S. Army officers' wives in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.