The U.S. has since expanded into the Middle East and surrounding area – Turkey, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia each have at least 10 bases.
Since 2001, U.S. taxpayers paid $6.4 trillion to the federal government that went to wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. In the post-9/11 years, the Department of Defense also received $884 billion increase to its baseline budget.
In 2022, the U.S. spent $877 billion on its military – the most of any country, and more than China, Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, the U.K., Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, and Ukraine combined. The U.S. also spends the third-most on military per person, at $2,405, behind only Israel (second) and Qatar (first).
In total, the U.S. spends about 12% of all its spending on the military, compared to China’s 4.79%.
Historically, the U.S. has used promoting democracy as justification for its far-reaching military network, although U.S. dependence on oil from the Middle East also has been “an underlying motive for direct military intervention or meddling in political development,” according to the Global Policy Forum.
As tensions ramp up in the Middle East and the South China Sea, the U.S. has upped its military presence in these regions.
Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel that led to an Israeli siege on Gaza, the U.S. has sent military support to Israel and deployed more to the Middle East generally.
On Oct. 8, Austin announced that he ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, the Navy’s “newest and most advanced aircraft carrier,” to move into the region and be ready to aid Israel.
In the wake of Hamas’ initial attack and the Israeli blockade on Gaza that lasted for over two weeks, Israel is preparing for a ground invasion. Iran has alluded to stepping in to support Hamas if the ground offensive starts.