U.S. Military Bases in Italy.

 The focus of my blog today is going to the U.S. Military bases in Italy. The American military has a total of six active military bases in Italy. Four of these bases are Navy, two are Army, and one is Air Force. One of these bases is on the Italian island of Sicily and the American military formerly had a base on the Italian island of Sardinia which is closed. 

The point of this blog will be to show how American military bases in Italy were a product of the post WWII world and also a product of the Cold War. These bases were all built from 1951-1967 during the height of the Cold War to counteract Soviet influence in the Mediterranean. Post- WWII there was a growing communist party in Italy that had a chance to take power in the country. Due to the dismal economic conditions post WWII there was a chance that this communist party could win in the election of 1948. The CIA influenced the election and made sure the communists didn’t take power in Italy. After World War II, the United States was the only major power that was not completely devastated by war, and established the Marshall Plan in order to provide funds to rebuild Europe. It was in American interest to rebuild European nations like Italy and get the nations under American capitalist economic influence. On the other hand, It was in Soviet interest to keep European nations poor in order to create such an awful situation that they would fall to communism and Soviet influence. If the communists had won the election in Italy, the United States said they would pull all Marshall Plan funds out of the country. 

During the Cold War, the United States Military built these bases in Italy to prevent Soviet expansion and influence in the region. Italy was seen as a good halfway point between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. and the U.S. was determined to utilize these bases as a way to solidify American influence in the region. These actions can be seen as cultural and economic imperialism, though in my opinion a better alternative to Soviet influence in the region which would have resulted in economic disaster for the Italians. 

The Navy has a total of three bases in Italy. The NSA Gaeta Navy Base and the NSA Naples Navy Base are located close to each other in Southern Italy. The Naples base is especially large, housing 10,000 servicemen and a military college on base. These bases act as stopovers for U.S. military personnel during the Vietnam War, Korean War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. 

The Navy also has a military base on the Italian island of Sicily called the NAS Sigonella Navy Base. This base was established in 1959, the U.S. was trying to gain economic influence in Malta and had established a base there. Basically the U.S. government ran out of room on the Malta base and so opened a new base in Sicily to store access equipment. A couple of major events have occurred on this base, the 2011 invasion of Libya that resulted in Gaddafi’s death was launched from Sigonella, and a flood occurred in 2005 resulting in the evacuation of 400 personnel. The United States Navy used to have a military base on the Italian island of Sardinia. This base housed a nuclear submarine in 2003 and instantly became deeply unpopular with the locals. Local Sardinian politicians and citizens expressed concerns of the environmental damage of housing nuclear weapons and negative impacts on tourism (Wingfield). The base closed in 2005 after negotiations between Italy and the United States. 

The United States Army has two bases in Northern Italy. Established in 1951, the Camp Darby base in Tirreana, Italy is the oldest U.S. base in Italy. Post WWII Italy and the U.S. signed a treaty allowing the Americans access to a sliver of land near Livarno to build a base. As a defeated power, Italy had very little choice but to comply with this demand. The base contains a hospital unit and a mobile hospital unit which can respond anywhere in the Eastern Hemisphere within 18 hours. The other Army base is Caserma Edele Army Base in Vicenza, Italy. During the 1980s, “its main goal was to protect the Alpine Bases from Soviet Invasion” (US Military Bases), representing clear U.S. Cold War policy. Caserma currently houses the headquarters for the United States Army Africa, this makes it one of the most important bases for the U.S. military. The United States Air Force has a base in Aviano, Italy. This base has been an Italian base since 1911, which was captured by Allied forces during World War II. In 1955, the U.S. and Italy agreed on a joint operation on the base. The base played a major part during Desert Storm, housing reserves. 

Overall, these bases were built during a time when the U.S. was the most powerful nation on Earth. These bases were a result of American economic and cultural imperialism in Italy post WWII. In the current political climate, Italy is very much a capitalist nation and our close ally. It is my personal opinion that all bases should be closed except for Aviano and Caserma. Aviano is a jointly run base with Italy and therefore appropriate. Caserma is crucial to the American military due to its role as America’s Headquarter for Africa. These bases could be expanded at their present location in order to consolidate the activities of the other less necessary bases. 

Work Cited: 

“US Military Bases - Air Force Bases, Army Bases, Navy Bases, Marine.” Military Bases, 25 May 2018, militarybases.com/.  

Wingfield, Brian. “U.S. to Shut Base in Italy That Aids Nuclear Subs.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Nov. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/11/25/world/europe/us-to-shut-base-in-italy-that-aids-nuclear-subs.html. 

Feminist Perspective: U.S. Troop Withdrawal from Afghanistan.

 My blog is going to be focusing on the United States removing their troops from Afghanistan and what effects this will have on the local women and girls in the country. The Department of the Defense article that I am going to be focusing on, discusses how the support for Afghanistan in the future will mostly be financial. Financial support is mainly in regards to paying Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and providing maintenance for military aircraft. There is also a major focus on the Kabul Airport being a stable location for the future of a Post-U.S. Afghanistan. 

From a strictly American perspective, this all seems like a good thing. We obviously cannot afford to stay in Afghanistan forever and at least the U.S. is providing funds to help the country run smoothly following American departure. From a feminist perspective on the hand, this is not a good situation. One of the biggest issues with the Taliban is their stance against young women, getting an education. Young women were brutally attacked, had their schools burned down, killed, and had acid thrown on them. During the U.S. occupation, the presence of the U.S. troops could prevent such brutality from occurring. Now that the Americans are leaving, there is the terrifying chance that the Taliban could spread their power and continue their brutality towards young women and girls. Taliban control is spread throughout the country, though heavily in the more rural southern, southwestern, northern  areas of the country. These areas are under Taliban control or Taliban contested control. On the other hand, there is no Taliban control in major government controlled cities like Kabul. Therefore the securing of a far off airport does very little for protection of young women in these rural areas and the Afghan forces taking back these areas will be even more difficult once American troops are gone. 

Overall, through continued funding of Afghan military forces America is attempting to keep some stability in the region. Also control of the Kabul airport will act as a way that we can supply the Afghan army with weapons that they can use to fight the Taliban. Hopefully these actions can be enough to defeat the Taliban or at the very least keep them at bay. I myself am not so optimistic, especially if we go off of our historical experience in our troop withdrawal from Vietnam. Taliban power is entrenched in everyday Afghan society and our troop withdrawal could lead to the Taliban’s attacks on women and girls growing, if the Afghan armed forces do not have the ability to stop them. I also have attached a map below of government, contested, and Taliban controlled areas in Afghanistan.  

Work Cited: 

Lopez, C. Todd. “Military Leaders Plan for Post-Withdrawal Financial Support for Afghans.” U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE, www.defense.gov/Explore/News/Article/Article/2642935/military-leaders-plan-for-post-withdrawal-financial-support-for-afghans/.

Northern Ireland: the scales of the conflict

 

Blog Assignment: 

The article that I am going to be focusing on is about the most recent conflict in North Ireland that happened about two months ago. The conflict in Northern Ireland is one that can be traced back to the Tudor Conquests of Ireland in the 16th century, British rule in Ireland saw a large number of English Protestants being permanently settled in Northern Ireland by the English authorities. These settlers clashed with the Irish Catholics already living in the region and the conflict continues to this very day.  Protestant majority Northern Ireland still remains a part of the UK, despite the primarily Catholic Republic of Ireland gaining independence in 1937. From the late 1960s to the late 1990s, a period of Northern Irish history known as The Troubles saw Catholic Nationalists (who want to be a part of the Republic of Ireland) pitted against Protestant Unionist Loyalists. This conflict resulted in the deaths of over 3,600 people, bombings, sectarian murders, and army crackdowns. In 1998, both sides signed the Good Friday Agreement which has led to a general peace in Northern Ireland for the last 23 years (Symington).

Despite over 20 years of relative peace, things are starting to get bad again due to Brexit. The new Brexit deal has stated that Northern Ireland will continue to have to follow the rules of the EU when it comes to trade and customs. This controversial decision is known as the Northern Ireland Protocol. The Protestant Loyalists are infuriated by this decision, these people see themselves as citizens of the UK who have been abandoned by their government. They were also angered by the perceived lax response by the Belfast police, when thousands of people broke coronavirus regulations to attend the funeral of a former IRA member named Bobby Storey (Symington). Anger by the Loyalists led to riots across Northern Ireland, notably in Belfast and Londonderry as well as much smaller towns. Most of the rioters were younger men who were actively encouraged by older men to partake in the violence and destruction. 

The purpose of this blog is to show how the opinions shown in this story differ across different scales. On the local scale, Protestant Loyalists feel as though they are not being treated fairly as citizens of the UK and that their rights as British citizens are being ignored. This is an example of how the larger regional conflict between the British and the EU affects the local level as the Protestants feel abandoned by their government.  The Loyalists feel as though the police/local authorities are giving unfair treatment and favoring Catholics. For the Catholics on the local level, they see the cry of the Protestants not being treated fairly as ridiculous after years of religious oppression by the English/Protestant authorities. Obviously more violence has had an incredibly negative effect on the population in Northern Ireland on both sides, especially in places that were ravaged by violence so recently in history. 

The regional scale focuses on the policies of the UK government in the Brexit deal and the presence of the European Union at the negotiating table. The decision to have Northern Ireland still have to follow EU rules about trade and customs was negotiated by the British and the EU. The Republic of Ireland is part of the European Union and had a significant impact on these negotiations. Ireland does not want to have a hard border with Northern Ireland, arguing that it would lead to more violence, this is why the EU negotiations led to Northern Ireland still having to follow EU regulations. The fact that Ireland is a part of the European Union gives it power that it would not have otherwise in these negotiations. Also, The whole point of Brexit is pitting the British versus everybody else, and this rash decision of the UK government to leave the EU is being shown to have disastrous consequences. Overall, both the regional and local scales are versions of the same conflict, the Nationalist vs. Unionist fight in Belfast and Londonderry is really just a localized version of the regional conflicts between the British and the Irish. Now the Irish Republic has the EU on their side, which gives them an overwhelming leg up in negotiations. 

On a global scale, this decision has disastrous impacts mostly on the UK. The United States will either not get involved or side with the European Union. The presence of large numbers of Irish Catholics in America, including the President of the United States Joe Biden, will likely sway public opinion in favor of the Nationalists and the Republic of Ireland. Therefore, the feelings of a lot of Nationalists and the Republic of Ireland on a local and regional level have a deep effect on how many Irish Americans feel in the United States. The UK is also being negatively affected by their wider decision to leave the European Union, the cracks are beginning to show and it is undoubtedly clear it will have negative economic results for the UK. 

Work Cited: 

Symington, Matthew. “Violence in Northern Ireland Sparks Fears of a Return to The Troubles.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 21 Apr. 2021, www.nbcnews.com/news/world/violence-northern-ireland-sparks-fears-return-troubles-n126476

“EU Map after Brexit.” Maproom, 13 Apr. 2021, maproom.net/shop/eu-map/. 

Nidex. Map of Northern Ireland, www.nidex.com/map.htm. 

Map for Scale 1:

Map for Scale 2: