US Military Bases In The Gulf And Its Impact On Security In The Gulf

The location of military bases depends on interests distribution, and war is the most favorable opportunity for deploying military bases. The United States deployed a large number of military bases to cope with "fascism" in Germany, Japan, and Italy during the World War Two. With the outbreak of the Cold War, The United States still maintained a huge military bases network against challenges from the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the Gulf War prompted the United States began to adjust its global military strategy, whittle down military bases in Europe, Asia, at the same time expand military in the Middle East, Central Asia. Naturally, the Gulf as a core region become America’s first choice in the Middle East. Considering from security and strategic interests, U.S has signed a series of military agreements with the GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council) countries and deployed dozens of military bases. Undoubtedly, these bases have significant impacts on the Gulf security.This paper starts from the international background of the United States adjusts its foreign military bases that followed the Cold War, Combining with the important geopolitical value of the Gulf and the GCC countries on the need of the safety protection, and then it discusses and interprets the reasons of establishing oversea military bases in the Gulf. On this basis, this paper makes the comprehensive analysis on these bases, including layout, characteristics, function, international standing, strategic value and so on. Studies have shown that military bases have a variety of functions such as military, political and so on for the hegemony of the United States, is the symbol of power and strategic interests. On the other hand, this paper focus on the military bases have an impacts on the Gulf security. Based on analysis that American military bases maintain the safety of the GCC countries to a certain extent, but also derive a series of problems, intensify anti-American sentiment of the GCC countries, foster the terrorist activities, strengthen the existing contradictions between the GCC countries, these problems in turn exacerbated the insecurity of the GCC countries. Finally, this paper also predicts the prospect of these military bases and the security of the GCC countries in future.