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In the years around the Second World War, policymakers in the US & Western Europe faced security challenges occasioned by the development of new technologies & the emergence of transnational ideological conflict. In coming to terms with these challenges, they developed the historically novel practice in which a state might maintain a long-term, peacetime military presence on the territory of another sovereign state without the subjugation of the latter. Such arrangements between substantive equals were previously unthinkable: under the inherited understanding of sovereignty, in which there was a tight linkage between military presence & territorial authority, such military presences could be understood only in terms of occupation or annexation. This text applies concepts derived from pragmatist thought to a historical study of the relations between the US & its wartime allies to explain the origin of this phenomenon.

Discusses the increasing numbers of US military bases around the world since the end of World War II, and argues that they function to maintain US political and economic hegemony.

CLARK AIR BASE AND SUBIC NAVAL BASE IN THE PHILIPPINES ARE THE USA'S LARGEST OVERSEAS MILITARY BASES. WHILE THE PREVIOUS REVIEW OF THE TERMS OF THEIR LEASE UNDER THE 1947 MILITARY BASE AGREEMENT (MBA) TOOK PLACE AT THE TIME OF THE MARCOS DICTATORSHIP, THE LATEST RENEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF A DEMOCRACY. THIS CHANGED POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT HAS ENCOURAGED OPEN AND VOCIFEROUS DEBATE ON ISSUES TOO OFTEN DETERMINED IN SECRECY. YET THE RESULTANT QUESTIONING OF THE INTERESTS WHICH THESE BASES SERVE ECHOES NATIONALIST SENTIMENTS ELSEWHERE, NOT LEAST IN THE DEMOCRACIES OF WESTERN EUROPE. THE RESOLUTION OF THESE DEBATES COULD HAVE FAR-REACHING IMPLICATIONS FOR US OVERSEAS BASING AND MILITARY ACCESS RIGHTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

The category of the sphere of influence can explain some contemporary international processes. To define that category, however, much stress is laid on great powers' exclusivity within their spheres of influence. The author takes into consideration the thesis of the aforementioned exclusivity's erosion. Because foreign military bases are essential instruments of spheres of influence due to their strong impact on security policy, it is worth investigating their presence in this context. Specifically, the author carries out an in-depth study of military bases of more than one major power in one host country. Further, the article discusses the extent to which the gradual erosion of exclusivity undermines the significance of spheres of influence as such. In conclusion, the author states that the case of Djibouti undermines the idea of great power exclusivity. Yet, other cases do not provide sufficient evidence on such deep transformation because of either limited periods of bases' existence or great power cooperative attitudes.