The United States\u2019 (US) extensive overseas military engagements since World War II have resulted in millions of deaths worldwide. Since 1945, the US has used its global network of bases and military agreements to invade or intervene in 96 countries. These operations started during the so-called Cold War, as the US sought to prevent communist expansion, and continue today under a self-declared War on Terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US deploys its military forces under various pretexts including peacekeeping, humanitarian intervention, enforcement of international law, democratization, alliance-building, counterterrorism and ironically even preventing war. Its interventions range from direct military actions to covert operations to military support for client states. Lasting from days or weeks to over many years, these result in significant loss of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first proxy war of the Cold War was in Greece from 1947-1950 when the US provided vast military support for the Greek government to prevent it from falling into the Soviet sphere of influence. This started decades of military intervention and assistance by the US to contain the spread of communist ideals and influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The US continued with its overseas military interventions even as the Cold War wound down:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the 21st<\/sup> century, the US used its so-called war on terror to justify large-scale invasions, attacks and many other military interventions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The US\u2019 hostile military actions abroad violate the United Nations (UN) Charter\u2019s provisions on peaceful settlement of disputes and refraining from the use of armed force except in self-defense after an armed attack by another state. None of the countries the US has invaded or attacked previously initiated hostilities against it. The US acts without Security Council approval when it wants to and also systematically violates many other UN resolutions and international law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The most severe of the US\u2019 acts of aggression have resulted in some 13-23 million deaths in at least 28 nations. Direct US military actions in at least 16 countries have caused around 7-13 million deaths. US-supported or -instigated armed conflicts in 19 countries have led to some 6-10 million deaths. There are countries where the US has engaged both directly in combat and indirectly through active military support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These figures still do not include casualties from all the governments the US has supported militarily in their domestic conflicts against supposed insurgents and other political opposition. Many tens of thousands more have been killed by client states with US support and using US-funded and -supplied war materiel, such as in the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These extensive casualties underscore the high human cost of the US\u2019 militarist strategy for maintaining its global hegemony. Ensuring the political subservience of governments to conform with US geopolitical objectives and ensuring access to countries\u2019 economic and natural resources are essential to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it is, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reports US military spending of US$916 billion in 2023 to be the largest in the world. This is over triple the next biggest spender China’s (US$296 billion), and more than that of the following 20 countries combined (Russia, India, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine, France, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Australia, Poland, Israel, Canada, Spain, Brazil, Algeria, Netherlands, Taiwan and Turkey). <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n