Exploring Base Politics: How Host Countries Shape the Network of U.S. Overseas Bases

209 Pages·2021·28.76 MB·English

by  Shinji Kawana and Minori Takahashi

Exploring Base Politics

This book sheds light on the mechanisms of base politics that surround U.S. overseas
military bases, comparing several countries across different regions.
Analyzing cases from Japan, Greenland, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Saudi Arabia,
South Korea, and Singapore, the contributors paint a detailed and complex picture
of the role and impact of U.S. bases. In times of war they project military power, and
in times of peace they deter the emergence of general and latent threats. Furthermore,
they are used to secure access to resources, and as a means of politically and econom-
ically influencing small and mid- size countries. Military bases provide host countries
with many benefits of the U.S. security umbrella, but can cause internal problems,
including accidents and noise pollution that accompany the functioning of a base, as
well as constrain their sovereignty. Military bases do not simply serve to bring America
strategic and security benefits— as symbols of the hierarchical structure of the inter-
national system, they influence power relations in the entire world.
An invaluable resource for scholars of International Relations with an interest in
the practical and theoretical challenges of the U.S.’s relationship with its allies.
Shinji Kawana is Associate Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan, where
he is affiliated with the Institute for Liberal Arts. He has a doctorate degree in inter-
national politics from Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan. His research has focused on
base politics, U.S. bases in Japan, and the issue of military bases in Okinawa. Among
his recent publications are Base Politics: The Origins of the Post- War U.S. Overseas
Bases Expansion Policy (Hakutō Shobō, 2012, in Japanese) and The Rise and Fall of
U.S. Military Bases 1968–1 973: The Policy of Withdrawal from Mainland Japan (Keisō
Shobō, 2020, in Japanese).
Minori Takahashi is Assistant Professor at Hokkaido University, Japan, where he is
affiliated with the Slavic- Eurasian Research Center and the Arctic Research Center.
He holds a Ph.D. in international political economy from the University of Tsukuba,
Japan. His research interests include security issues and the development of living and
non- living resources in the Arctic. Among his recent joint and individual publications
are The Influence of Sub-s tate Actors on National Security: Using Military Bases to
Forge Autonomy (Springer, 2019), “Autonomy and Military Bases: USAF Thule
Base in Greenland as the Study Case” (Arctic Yearbook, 2019), “The Contours of
the Development of Non- Living Resources in Greenland” (Polar Record, 2020), and
“The Politics of Whaling and the European Union” (Senri Ethnological Studies, 2020).
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Exploring Base Politics

How Host Countries Shape the
Network of U.S. Overseas Bases
Edited by Shinji Kawana
and Minori Takahashi
First published 2021
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2021 selection and editorial matter, Shinji Kawana and Minori Takahashi;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Shinji Kawana and Minori Takahashi to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Names: Kawana, Shinji, 1979– editor. | Takahashi, Minori, 1982– editor.
Title: Exploring base politics : how host countries shape the network of
U.S. overseas bases / edited by Shinji Kawana and Minori Takahashi.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020027963 (print) | LCCN 2020027964 (ebook) |
ISBN 9780367404758 (hardback) | ISBN 9780429356315 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Military bases, American–Political aspects–Foreign
countries. | United States–Armed Forces–Foreign countries. |
United States–Military relations. | United States–Foreign relations.
Classification: LCC UA26.A2 E96 2021 (print) |
LCC UA26.A2 (ebook) | DDC 355.70973–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027963
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020027964
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 40475- 8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 429- 35631- 5 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Newgen Publishing UK
Contents

List of contributors vii
Introduction 1
SHINJI KAWANA AND MINORI TAKAHASHI
1 What questions does the study of military bases pose? 6
SHINJI KAWANA
2 Rethinking the politics surrounding the U.S. military
base in Greenland with a focus on non- material factors 21
MINORI TAKAHASHI
3 U.S. bases in Italy: From a Cold War frontier to a hub
for power projection 39
MATTEO DIAN
4 Defending NATO’s southern flank: Spain’s democratization,
the ending of the Cold War and the U.S. military presence 56
SHINO HATERUMA
5 Domestic environmental policy and Status of Forces
Agreement: U.S. military presence and new water
pollution risk in Germany 77
KEISUKE MORI
6 Why do anti- base movements occur and/ or activate?
An analysis of the Turkish case 93
KOHEI IMAI
vi Contents
7 Strategic asset or political burden? U.S. military bases and
base politics in Saudi Arabia 111
MASAKI MIZOBUCHI
8 Singapore’s distinctive “quasi- bases”: Regional security
environment, national discourse and path- dependence 133
KEI KOGA
9 Base politics within the framework of the U.S.– ROK
alliance management scheme 152
TOMONORI ISHIDA
Conclusion 176
SHINJI KAWANA AND MINORI TAKAHASHI
Index 194
Contributors

Matteo Dian is Senior Assistant Professor at the University of Bologna, Italy,
where he is affiliated with the Department of Political and Social Sciences.
He has a doctorate in Political Science from the Italian Institute of Human
and Social Sciences, Scuola Normale Superiore. His research has focused on
Japanese and Chinese foreign and security policies, U.S. alliances in East Asia
and the role of collective memory in East Asia. Among his recent publications
are “Networking Hegemony: Alliance Dynamics in East Asia” (special issue
of International Politics, co- edited with Hugo Meijer, 2020) and Contested
Memories in Chinese and Japanese Foreign Policy (Elsevier, 2017).
Shino Hateruma is a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Asia-P acific Studies,
Waseda University, Japan. She obtained her MA in international relations at
the same university. Her Ph.D. research focuses on the conditions leading to
the closure of U.S. overseas military bases. Her research interests encompass
security issues in the Asia- Pacific region. She has contributed a chapter to the
book The Influence of Sub-s tate Actors on National Security: Using Military
Bases to Forge Autonomy (Springer, 2019), and published several journal art-
icles in Japanese concerning the issue of U.S military bases in Okinawa.
Kohei Imai is Research Fellow at the Area Studies Center, Institute of Developing
Economies, Japan, where he works as a member of the Middle East Studies
Group. He holds dual Ph.D. in international relations from the Middle East
Technical University, Turkey and in political science from Chuo University,
Japan. His research has focused on Turkish foreign policy, international pol-
itics of the Middle East, including Syrian refugee issues, and the theory of
international relations. Among his recent publications are “Rethinking the
Insulator State: Turkey’s Border Security and the Syrian Civil War” (Eurasia
Border Review, 2017), The Possibility and Limit of Liberal Middle Power
Policies: Turkish Foreign Policy toward the Middle East during the AKP Period
(2005– 2011) (Lexington Books, 2017) and “Why Syrian Refugees in Turkey
Choose Turkey as a Final Destination: Results of Public Opinion Survey of
Syrian Refugees in Turkey” (Annals of Japan Association for Middle East
Studies, 2019).
viii Contributors
Tomonori Ishida is Research Fellow at the National Institute for Defense Studies,
Ministry of Defense, Japan. He received his MA in political science at Keio
University, Japan. His research interests include Japanese foreign policy and
international politics in the Korean Peninsula. Among his recent publications
are “Japan’s Economic Assistance to the Republic of Korea, 1977– 1981: An
Analysis within the Framework of the U.S.- Japan Security Burden- sharing
Scheme” (World Political Science, 2015) and “The Orientation of Diplomatic
Policies of Post- war Japan towards the Korean Peninsula: The Mapping of the
Political Détente, 1969–1 973” (Journal of Law and Political Studies, 2016,
in Japanese).
Shinji Kawana is Associate Professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan,
where he is affiliated with the Institute for Liberal Arts. He has a doctorate
degree in international politics from Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan. His
research has focused on base politics, U.S. bases in Japan, and the issue of
military bases in Okinawa. Among his recent publications are Base Politics: The
Origins of the Post- War U.S. Overseas Bases Expansion Policy (Hakutō Shobō,
2012, in Japanese) and The Rise and Fall of U.S. Military Bases 1968– 1973: The
Policy of Withdrawal from Mainland Japan (Keisō Shobō, 2020, in Japanese).
Kei Koga is Assistant Professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs
Programme, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University
(NTU), Singapore. He received his Ph.D. in international relations at the
Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, USA. His current
research focuses on comparative regional security/i nstitutions and East
Asian/ Indo- Pacific security (particularly Japan and ASEAN). His recent
important publication include: Reinventing Regional Security Institutions in
Asia and Africa: Power Shifts, Ideas, and Institutional Change (Routledge
2017), “Japan’s ‘Indo-P acific’ Question: Countering China or Shaping a New
Regional Order?” (International Affairs, 2020), “The Concept of ‘Hedging’
Revisited: The Case of Japan’s Foreign Policy Strategy in East Asia’s Power
Shift” (International Studies Review, 2018), and “ASEAN’s Evolving
Institutional Strategy: Managing Great Power Politics in South China Sea
Disputes” (Chinese Journal of International Politics, 2018).
Masaki Mizobuchi is Professor at NUCB Business School, Japan. He holds a
Ph.D. in Area Studies from Sophia University, Japan. His research has focused
on political, economic and military issues in the Middle East. Among his recent
joint and individual publications are Islamist Movements after the Arab Spring
(Minerva Shobō, 2019, in Japanese) and “Emerging Order in the Middle East
after the Arab Uprising: What Comes after the Pax-A mericana?” (Journal of
Middle Eastern Studies, 2018, in Japanese).
Keisuke Mori is a post-d octoral fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion
of Science. He has obtained a Ph.D. degree in sociology from Hitotsubashi
University, Japan. His research interests include civil society, security issues
and social movements. Among his recent joint and individual publications are
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Contributors ix
“Connections Result in a General Upsurge of Protests: Egocentric Network
Analysis of Social Movement Organizations after the Fukushima Nuclear
Accident” (Social Movement Studies, 2020) and “Between Security Policy and
Peace Movement: Current Contentious Politics Related to U.S. Military Base
Construction in Okinawa Prefecture” (Japan: Politics, Economy and Society,
2018, in German).
Minori Takahashi is Assistant Professor at Hokkaido University, Japan, where he
is affiliated with the Slavic- Eurasian Research Center and the Arctic Research
Center. He holds a Ph.D.  in international political economy from the
University of Tsukuba, Japan. His research interests include security issues and
the development of living and non-l iving resources in the Arctic. Among his
recent joint and individual publications are The Influence of Sub- state Actors on
National Security: Using Military Bases to Forge Autonomy (Springer, 2019),
“Autonomy and Military Bases: USAF Thule Base in Greenland as the Study
Case” (Arctic Yearbook, 2019), “The Contours of the Development of Non-
Living Resources in Greenland” (Polar Record, 2020), and “The Politics of
Whaling and the European Union” (Senri Ethnological Studies, 2020).