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Right, so what for are the US military bases on European soil then? (Please spare me the part about protecting Europe from outside threats story). Would they le

Right, so what for are the US military bases on European soil then? (Please spare me the part about protecting Europe from outside threats story). Would they leave if we asked nicely enough? Like Pretty please? Would it really take just that?

RandomLensman 4y ago
They probably would, and a lot of US forces left after the end of the old cold war. Right now, not sure a majority/the median voter in Europe actually wants the US to leave, though.
- sfusato 4y ago
  I want to believe you they would, but I wasn't born yesterday. I'm within less than 2-hours drive from two such US military bases that have nuclear weapons deployed there. US military bases are considered US soil de-facto, they don't need to ask permission to do anything. They can launch an attack on anyone without consulting first with the host country. Yet, on paper, we're sovereign. They've been plenty of protests in Europe over this matter this year, but they won't show them on CNN, that's for sure.
QuarterReptile 4y ago
In some cases, raising the rent will do it [0]. This one looks like political brinksmanship gone wrong for all sides, and the article suggests that it's being undone right now. Random citizen asking obviously does nothing, but foreign base COs are always desperately trying to keep their forces on best behavior to minimize frustration. That's not easy when you import a bunch of guys in the age range that most often causes trouble, give them significant spending money, and remove them from past anchoring influences. It's worse when the receiving society is more orderly; I have Japan in mind. Fighting against those problems is that all political leadership generally benefits from the arrangements. The foreign host nation gets economic activity and some amount of bargaining power, and the US gets a location that obviously is helpful for some strategic objective. >Right, so what for are the US military bases on European soil then? (Please spare me the part about protecting Europe from outside threats story). An anomalous, peaceful Europe is the water that you're swimming in, and I'm trying to point out that it's wet. I recognize the limited prospects of the endeavor. Though, if it's the outside part you're rejecting, I'll acknowledge my imprecise wording. Russia is the outside threat, being outside the Western European culture that is defended, but threats come from within Europe too. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Naval_Base_Subic_Bay https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Naval_Base_Subic_Bay

RandomLensman 4y ago

They probably would, and a lot of US forces left after the end of the old cold war. Right now, not sure a majority/the median voter in Europe actually wants the US to leave, though.

sfusato 4y ago
I want to believe you they would, but I wasn't born yesterday. I'm within less than 2-hours drive from two such US military bases that have nuclear weapons deployed there. US military bases are considered US soil de-facto, they don't need to ask permission to do anything. They can launch an attack on anyone without consulting first with the host country. Yet, on paper, we're sovereign. They've been plenty of protests in Europe over this matter this year, but they won't show them on CNN, that's for sure.

QuarterReptile 4y ago

In some cases, raising the rent will do it [0]. This one looks like political brinksmanship gone wrong for all sides, and the article suggests that it's being undone right now. Random citizen asking obviously does nothing, but foreign base COs are always desperately trying to keep their forces on best behavior to minimize frustration. That's not easy when you import a bunch of guys in the age range that most often causes trouble, give them significant spending money, and remove them from past anchoring influences. It's worse when the receiving society is more orderly; I have Japan in mind. Fighting against those problems is that all political leadership generally benefits from the arrangements. The foreign host nation gets economic activity and some amount of bargaining power, and the US gets a location that obviously is helpful for some strategic objective. >Right, so what for are the US military bases on European soil then? (Please spare me the part about protecting Europe from outside threats story). An anomalous, peaceful Europe is the water that you're swimming in, and I'm trying to point out that it's wet. I recognize the limited prospects of the endeavor. Though, if it's the outside part you're rejecting, I'll acknowledge my imprecise wording. Russia is the outside threat, being outside the Western European culture that is defended, but threats come from within Europe too. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Naval_Base_Subic_Bay https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Naval_Base_Subic_Bay