The US miitary's footprint abroad

More than 60% of the US Army is stationed abroad, totaling more than 320,000 troops in 120 countries.

Unpleasant truths lilke these belie the fact that the US military is not in place around the globe to "promote freedom and democracy." It's there to enforce hegemony, gird strategic "hotspots," and secure control over major energy resources. The deployments abroad thus constitute, as Chalmers Johnson puts it, an "empire of bases."