US military bases and interventions worldwide, 1900 to present. Countries are colored by a blend of nine intervention types – military, political, and economic – with colors fading over time after interventions end. Borders are de jure; wartime occupations are not shown.
Major installations are large, permanently staffed bases with substantial infrastructure – runways, ports, hospitals, housing for thousands. Examples: Ramstein (Germany), Camp Humphreys (South Korea), Yokosuka (Japan).
Medium installations have permanent staff and significant capabilities, but smaller footprint. Often specialized: intelligence, logistics, or training.
Small installations include radar stations, communication sites, and minor support facilities with limited permanent personnel.
Access agreements (DCA/SDCA) grant the US military rights to use host nation facilities without maintaining a permanent presence. The 2024 Nordic expansion added 41 such sites across Norway, Sweden, and Finland.
Lily-pads and Cooperative Security Locations (CSLs) are minimal-footprint sites – often just fuel storage, a small airstrip, or pre-positioned equipment. Used for rapid deployment and logistics rather than permanent stationing.
Ground troops deployed in combat operations or military occupation.
Sustained aerial bombardment without ground invasion (e.g., Laos, Cambodia, Libya).
Targeted killings via unmanned aircraft, often outside declared war zones.
CIA-backed overthrow of elected or established governments (e.g., Iran 1953, Chile 1973).
Arming rebels (Contras, mujahideen) or propping up dictatorships (Shah, Marcos, Suharto).
Election meddling, propaganda campaigns, or support for opposition movements.
Total trade isolation – comprehensive ban on nearly all commerce (e.g., Cuba, North Korea).
Economic warfare without formal sanctions – cutting credit, blocking loans, funding strikes.
Targeted restrictions on specific sectors, individuals, or financial flows.
Countries with multiple intervention types show blended colors – military (red), political (amber), and economic (green) layers are drawn on top of each other. Colors fade to 20% opacity over 20 years after an intervention ends, but never disappear entirely. Click a country to see its full intervention history.
Military, political, and economic interventions active per decade. Interventions spanning multiple decades are counted for each.
The US maintains more foreign military bases than all other countries combined and has conducted more interventions since 1945 than any other power. The pattern is historically unusual: European colonial empires intervened extensively before World War II, but decolonization sharply reduced their global military footprint. Britain, France, and others now maintain only remnants of their former reach. The US, by contrast, expanded dramatically after 1945 and has sustained that expansion ever since.
As of 2025, according to the PONARS Eurasia project and World BEYOND War, other major powers have far smaller footprints:
Once the world's largest empire with military presence on every continent. Now reduced to Cyprus, Gibraltar, Falkland Islands, Brunei, and Diego Garcia (joint with US). Post-WWII interventions include Suez (1956), Malaya, Kenya, Aden, and alongside the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Modern footprint is a fraction of its colonial peak. Source
Major Cold War interventions include Hungary (1956), Czechoslovakia (1968), and Afghanistan (1979–89). Post-Soviet: Chechnya, Georgia (2008), Ukraine (2014–present), Syria (2015–2024). Bases in Armenia, Syria (retained after Assad's fall via deal with new government), Tajikistan, Belarus, and breakaway regions. Source
Northern Cyprus (35,000+ troops), Syria (Afrin, Idlib region), Iraq (100+ outposts targeting PKK), Qatar (Doha), Somalia (Camp TURKSOM), Libya (multiple air bases), Kosovo, Azerbaijan. Source
Bhutan (IMTRAT training mission), Mauritius (Agaléga Island airfield), Oman (Ras al Hadd listening post, Duqm naval access), Seychelles (coastal surveillance), Madagascar (monitoring station), Singapore (Changi Naval Base access). Focused on Indian Ocean. Source
Second-largest colonial empire, with extensive interventions in Indochina (1946–54), Algeria (1954–62), and dozens of operations across Francophone Africa. Rapid withdrawal in 2025: Chad (January), Senegal (July), Ivory Coast (December). Once maintained bases across Africa; now reduced to Djibouti, Gabon, and UAE. Source
Despite its economic rise, China has avoided the US model of global base networks. Djibouti (first official overseas base, 2017), Cambodia (Ream Naval Base, operational 2024), and small facilities in Tajikistan. Major interventions limited to Korea (1950–53) and the brief Sino-Vietnamese War (1979). Primarily projects power through economic ties. Source
The Soviet Union pursued a different model: fewer bases but major direct interventions to maintain its sphere. Hungary (1956) and Czechoslovakia (1968) were crushed by tank invasions. Afghanistan (1979–89) became a decade-long war costing over a million lives. The USSR also backed proxy wars and client states across Africa, Latin America, and Asia – from Cuba and Angola to Ethiopia and Vietnam – though often through arms and advisors rather than occupying forces.
In terms of bases, the Soviets relied on massive troop concentrations in a few key locations. According to declassified intelligence estimates, over 600,000 personnel were stationed in Eastern Europe by the late Cold War, with the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany alone peaking at approximately 500,000 troops. Beyond Eastern Europe, the Soviet Navy had port access in Cuba, Syria, Vietnam, Egypt, Somalia, and Ethiopia – but these were often temporary. The total number of distinct Soviet foreign installations was likely in the dozens, an order of magnitude smaller than the American network.
When Soviet forces withdrew from all positions outside former Soviet territory between 1989 and 1994, Russia was left with only a handful of legacy bases in Tajikistan, Armenia, and Belarus. The current count of ~10 foreign bases represents a modest rebuilding since then, with additions like Kyrgyzstan (2003), the Georgian breakaway regions (2008), and Syria (2015).
The US paid Spain $20 million (~$780 million today) for the Philippines. The subsequent Philippine-American War (1899-1902) killed over 200,000 Filipino civilians.
The US supported Panamanian independence from Colombia, then leased the Canal Zone "in perpetuity." Guantanamo was leased from Cuba for $2,000/year in gold.
The US purchased the Danish West Indies (now US Virgin Islands) for $25 million (~$630 million today), adding strategic naval positions in the Caribbean.
The UK leased bases in Newfoundland, Bermuda, the Caribbean, and British Guiana to the US for 99 years in exchange for 50 WWI-era destroyers. A massive expansion before Pearl Harbor.
Japan attacked US bases across the Pacific simultaneously. Clark Field was bombed 9 hours after Pearl Harbor despite the warning—most aircraft were destroyed on the ground.
At peak occupation, the US had over 3 million troops in Europe. Germany was divided into four zones; the US zone included Bavaria and Hesse.
The 1947 Military Bases Agreement gave the US 99-year leases on 23 bases. This was later renegotiated and eventually rejected by the Philippine Senate in 1991.
The war never officially ended—only an armistice was signed in 1953. US forces have remained in Korea for over 70 years.
Built as Cold War forward bases for potential conflict with the Soviet Union. Ramstein remains the largest US Air Force base outside the continental US.
The US gained Rota, Morón, Torrejón, and Zaragoza in exchange for economic and military aid to Franco. Spain remained outside NATO until 1982.
Operation Farm Gate pilots flew combat missions with South Vietnamese markings, officially as "advisors." The covert operation preceded the official US combat role by years.
The second Gulf of Tonkin incident, used to justify the war, likely never occurred. Declassified NSA documents show the intelligence was manipulated.
Thailand officially denied hosting US bombers while B-52s flew thousands of sorties from U-Tapao. The base could launch strikes without overflight permissions.
The offensive shocked the American public and eroded support for the war, despite being a military defeat for North Vietnam.
Okinawa had been under US military administration since 1945. The reversion came with a secret deal allowing nuclear weapons to return in emergencies.
Operation Frequent Wind evacuated 7,000 people by helicopter in 18 hours. The iconic image of helicopters on the US Embassy rooftop marked the end of the war.
After the fall of Saigon, Thailand demanded US forces leave within a year. Over 25,000 US personnel departed, ending the largest basing presence in Southeast Asia.
The Shah's fall ended decades of US intelligence and military presence. Listening posts monitoring the Soviet Union were lost, as was access to Iranian airfields.
Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia became the main hub for air operations. The war marked the first large-scale US deployment to the Middle East.
The second-largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century buried Clark under ash. The US evacuated 20,000 personnel in Operation Fiery Vigil.
The Philippine Senate rejected a new bases treaty by 12-11. Anti-base sentiment had grown since the 1986 People Power Revolution that ousted Marcos.
US forces in Europe dropped from 300,000 to under 100,000. Dozens of bases closed, returning land that had been occupied since 1945.
Built in 90 days after NATO's intervention against Serbia. The 955-acre base became the largest US base built since Vietnam, housing 7,000 troops at its peak.
The handover fulfilled the 1977 Carter-Torrijos Treaties. At its peak, the Canal Zone housed 65,000 US military personnel and dependents.
The US gained basing rights in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan—former Soviet republics. Russia initially supported this expansion.
Over 250,000 troops staged through Kuwait. Saudi Arabia asked the US to leave Prince Sultan AB; operations shifted to Al Udeid in Qatar.
The US withdrew combat forces under the 2008 Status of Forces Agreement. At peak, there were over 500 bases and outposts in Iraq.
Russia pressured Kyrgyzstan to close the base. The same month, the US signed EDCA with the Philippines, beginning a return to Southeast Asia.
US forces left Bagram at night without notifying the Afghan commander. The Taliban took control of Afghanistan within weeks.
The 77-year US presence in central Seoul ended. The base will become a park; some called it "Korea's Central Park."
New sites include bases facing Taiwan and the South China Sea. The expansion reflects US-China tensions and reverses the 1992 withdrawal.
Defense Cooperation Agreements with Norway, Sweden, and Finland gave the US access to 41 military facilities. The largest expansion of US basing in Europe since the Cold War.
A military coup led to the expulsion of US forces. Air Base 201 in Agadez was the largest US drone base in Africa, built to counter ISIS and al-Qaeda.
Found a gap, error, or misleading phrasing? Know of an intervention that should be included? I'd appreciate your corrections and suggestions.