Since 1991, the United States military has been engaged in over 200 countries, with a peak of over 426,000 troop deployments in 2007. But where they have been engaged has differed wildly by region. This story gives a bird's-eye view of the major deployments across five regions around the world.
See the code for this page on its Github repository.
Africa
By Brennan Finder, Marguerite Bellotti. Ryan Brown
In 1993, the U.S. sent over 6,000 troops to Somalia as part of a United Nations effort to maintain peace and prevent famine in the region. They protected aid deliveries from the attacks of Somali Warlord Muhammad Farah Aidid. However, one attack from Aidid killed 18 U.S. soldiers and led to President Clinton's decision to remove all troops from the country in 1994. (Source: Wikipedia. U.S. Army).
Djibouti is home to Camp Lemonnier which is the only U.S. military base in Africa. It is utilized due to it’s proximity to the Suez Canal and the Middle East. The high number of troops from 2010 - 2017 is due to its use as the operational headquarters for the Middle East and the Horn of Africa during the Obama Administration. The number of troops has dropped since the Trump Administration with the withdrawal of troops from the Middle East. Sourced: GPO, Militarybases.com.
Asia
Analysis by Dan Pacheco.
Troop deployments increased rapidly in Japan around 2009 as Japan participated in the reconstruction of Iraq. This was the first time since World War II that the country sent troops outside of Japan for a reason other than self defense. Source: Wikipedia.
In 2016, U.S. troops in Japan were drawn down sharply as part of Japan’s Legislation for Peace and Security, which was designed to improve its ability to respond proactively to global peace and security. Source: Wikipedia
Europe
Analysis by ... [names here].
Germany: Germany reunified in 1990, leading to the large number of US troops that were already deployed there to slowly leave over time as the country reunified. This is also largely due to our occupation of West Germany from after WWII to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Source - https://www.dw.com/en/us-military-in-germany-what-you-need-to-know/a-49998340#:~:text=Allied%20postwar%20occupation%20and%20its,troops%20were%20stationed%20in%20Germany.
Bosnia and Herzegovina: This country was officially declared by a signed agreement in Toledo, Ohio, in 1995. Because of this agreement, which the US was the mediator of, the US went from 1 troop in the area in 1995, to over 15,000 in 1996. Source - https://www.britannica.com/place/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina
Greece: The number of troops stationed in Greece went down a considerable amount after 1991. Greece had a major wave of emigration take place as a result of people moving into more industrialized European countries. With fewer people in Greece, not as many American troops were needed. Source- https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/greece-illegal-immigration-midst-crisis
Iceland: US Troops announced their withdrawal from Iceland in 2006, after over 50 years of the US being Iceland’s only real defense, which was decided in 1951 in a NATO agreement. Originally, US troops were based in Iceland because of threats of a Nazi invasion in the early 1940’s, however overtime that threat of invasion went away. This lead to all troops being pulled out of Iceland by 2008, however the US still is the official defense of Iceland, who has no real standing military. Source - https://www.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/129604/last-us-servicemembers-to-leave-iceland-sept-30/
Serbia: Prior to 1999, Serbia wanted to improve their relationship with NATO, but their relationship remained controversial. In 1999, NATO began an airstrike against Yugoslavia by bombing several Serbian military stations. As a result, https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nato-bombs-yugoslavia
Latin America
Analysis by ... [names here].
Panama: In 1989, the US government invaded Panama as an attempt to overthrow its dictator General Manuel Noriega for his drug trafficking and money laundering charges, suppressing democracy, and threatening US citizens. Noriega surrendered in January 1990. (https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-u-s-invades-panama) In 1999, the Panamanian government took control of the Panama Canal from the U.S. government. Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter signed a treaty in 1978 that gave the Panamanian government eventual control of the canal 20 years later. The canal is still used today and recently saw a boat pileup due to dry conditions. (https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/panama-takes-control-of-path-between-the-oceans-dec-31-1999-232981)
Cuba: After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the United States increased its economic sanctions and military presence in Cuba. In 1994, President Clinton mandated that Cubans attempting to immigrate via sea be taken to the Guantanamo Bay naval base, and that was the basis for the Helms-Burton Act to be signed into law in 1996. That occurred after the tumultuous year of 1995, which saw the peak of American military presence in Cuba. The act decreed that sanctions would only be lifted when Fidel and Raul Castro were no longer in power, and Cuba moved towards free elections and press. The turn of the century saw a steady decline in military presence with the loosening of travel and trade approved by President Obama. There are still 738 troops in Cuba as of 2020, but relations between the two countries have vastly improved both from a policy and a military presence standpoint. Source: https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-cuba-relations
In 1994. Suriname saw an uptick in U.S. troops deployed that only lasted two years (9 troops in 1993, over 150 troops in 1994-95, only 2 in 1996). Suriname became independent from the Netherlands in 1975, with violent conflicts for power resulting in the decades following. The Netherlands, United States, and other Global North countries pushed for peace treaties, and in 1992 one was eventually signed. The United States kept a military presence in Suriname for a few years to monitor the progress of the treaty. (https://bep.carterschool.gmu.edu/ending-the-armed-conflict-in-suriname)
The Middle East
Analysis by Jenna Lewis, Katie Fongvongsa, Kiran Costa.
Afghanistan - After the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. and other alliances fought the Taliban that were protecting Usama bin Laden. The use of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) entered the escalating war in Afghanistan. In 2007, the Taliban increased their army to almost the same amount of pre-attacks. At the peak in 2011, Osama bin Laden was killed. Troops would be heavily withdrawn in 2014 as Britain and the U.S. ended combat.
Iraq - In 2007, the U.S. troop surge hit its peak strength at 168,000 until November. The George W. Bush administration wanted to increase the number of U.S. military combat troops in Iraq to provide security to Baghdad and Al Anbar Governorate. This was considered one of the most significant military events in recent history because it coincided with a marked decrease in violent attacks. (https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1004203.pdf)
Kuwait- In 2003 the US sent 47,000 troops to Kuwait, to aid in the invasion of Iraq. Kuwait is a neighboring country Iraq, which the United States attacked in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks. The US used those troops to attack Iraq via the Kuwait border.