How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States

Although World War II was a catastrophic event, most American service members did not see combat but were instead preoccupied with logistics. Along with technological development, “the US mastery of logistics would diminish the value of colonies and inaugurate a new pattern of global power, based less on claiming large swaths of land and more on controlling small points” (215).

Before formally joining the war, the US sent munitions to the Allies and then initiated Lend-Lease. In the Middle East and North Africa, the US launched a campaign focused on infrastructure—from new piers to railways and roads. Delivering tanks to the region required warehouses, mechanics, spare parts, airports, and men. Logistics saved Britain’s “lifeline to its empire” and “transformed the Middle East” by turning it into “’a tremendous supply base’ for the Allies” (217).

Americans have been conscious of bases since the 1890s, when Alfred Thayer Mahan advocated for them. The Soviet Union was the only prominent ally to reject the US troop entry during World War II. As a result, Soviet pilots picked up planes through Lend-Lease in Alaska and piloted them themselves. Nonetheless, the US bases “girdled the globe” (218) across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.