From Hard Military Bases to Soft Military Presence: US Military Deployment in Iraq Reassessed

By the end of 2011,the US had closed all hard military bases in Iraq,but its“soft”military presence remained using private security contractors,military and intelligent officers located in the US embassy and in US consulates,US military training officers and consultants,and deployed special operation forces.Such soft military presence is of great importance and significance.At the national level,it helps Washington to stabilize and control the Iraqi situation;at the regional level,it can secure a strategic balance between Shi’a and Sunni sectors,which is essential for the US to respond to a rising nuclear Iran;at the global level,this soft military presence helps to cut US military expenditure and shift its strategic focus from the Greater Middle East to the Asia-Pacific regions.The soft military presence in Iraq reflects Obama’s“New Thinking”Doctrine on military deployment in the Middle East,which resembles lily-pads with stronger mobilization and flexibility.

Deep into US-Russia Contention in the Middle East

Since the end of the Cold War, the power comparison between the United States and Russia in the Middle East has been"strong US, weak Russia". But since sending troops into Syria on September 30 of 2015,Russia has taken a forceful position of involvement in the Middle East and achieved fruitful results, not only boosting its military presence in the Middle East, but also greatly increasing its political influence. Russia is now an important external force influencing political changes in the Middle East.Since taking office as US president, Donald Trump has changed the policy of strategic contraction pursued by his predecessor Barack Obama in the Middle East, taking a proactive rather than a stiff approach to further intensify contention with Russia in a bid to reshape and consolidate its position as a top dog in the Middle East. US-Russia contention has led to new geopolitical divisions and realignment as well as profound and complicated changes in geopolitical structure in the Middle East, thus perpetuating US-Russia contention, as the two countries will lock themselves in fierce contention over regional dominance on both military and political battlegrounds.

Sentry Box in the Backyard: Analysis of French Military Bases in Africa

Foreign military bases are the important means for power projection.In Africa,military bases represent the symbol of France’s sphere of influence,which have strengthened France’s protection of her economic,political,cultural,overseas national and security interests.The bases are of great significance to enhance French intervention capabilities,making France the most influential external power in the African continent.After the upheavals in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011,France will likely want to return to North Africa militarily and seek to restore a military presence in the region within a multilateral framework,with the objective of linking her domestic Toulon naval base with her military presence in North Africa,Gabon,the Ivory Coast,Djibouti,and Abu Dhabi,thus making France a dominant player in the“Arc of Instability”which extends from West Africa to the Persian Gulf.

The US Military Bases in the Gulf Cooperation Council States:Dynamics of Readjustment

Since the end of the Gulf War in 1991,the US military bases in the GCC states have evolved functionally from the dual containment of Iran and Iraq to the consolidation of its predominance in the Gulf region.Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks,the US readjustment of its military bases in the GCC states features two attributes.First,the task of the bases has transformed from fighting the Iraq War to the more complex and enduring tasks of maintaining the Gulf security,countering terrorists and containing Iran.Second,the major military base deployment has shifted from Saudi Arabia to Qatar,Bahrain and other GCC states,so a multi-faceted security mechanism under the US leadership has taken shape,which has overshadowed the Iranian-proposed collective security appeal.In Obama’s presidency,the deployment of the US military bases in the GCC states has revealed five new and distinct features,i.e.the bases are extending geographically,diminishing in size,increasingly approaching the potential enemies,strong in mobility and being gradually interlinked with other bases in Central Asia,Turkey and Djibouti.