Newsweek Discovers China 'Wants' Bases, Forgets U.S. Has 750
Newsweek's recent alarm over where 'China Wants New Military Bases' generates predictable apprehension. It's an insightful piece, if you ignore the fact that the United States currently maintains approximately 750 military bases in at least 80 foreign countries and territories, according to research from the American University's Costs of War Project. China, by contrast, has a single recognized
overseas base in Djibouti. One might wonder if the concern is about military expansion itself, or merely whose military is doing the expanding. This framing—a common tactic—highlights perceived threats from rivals while sanitizing one's own global military dominance. The narrative effectively weaponizes selective amnesia, portraying any move by a geopolitical competitor as an unprecedented threat
to 'stability,' while our own overwhelming presence is considered the natural order of things. Perhaps the next Newsweek map can show all the places the Pentagon doesn't currently have a base; it might be a shorter cartographic exercise.