Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic By Chalmers Johnson, Narrated by Tom Weiner (Read Via Audible.com)

I actually picked this book up on the recommendation of Bill Moyers, after watching his piece on ‘Washington for Sale?’

This book, may be as Moyers points out a few years old but very much still relevant.

The biggest tidbit I got out of the book was something I never knew. The United States has a rather large assortment of military bases all over earth. What was never mentioned to me was that the nations who ‘Host’ the US Bases actually pay the US a “Burden Sharing” fee. The original concept goes back to Romans who taxed for a similar service. The reason behind the Host Nation Support vig is that since the US has a base on their soil, the host nation should be obligated to help pay for them to deter common enemies. This is HUGE money that mostly have come from nations that the US won against in the past. For example Japan, in 2002 payed 4.4 billion to host the US military. Germany as well was in the billions and numerous others.

This key point is why the concept of ‘just closing bases and bringing the troops home’ is a little bit more complicated that I originally thought. Because right now the bulk majority of the costs to run these bases overseas are in effect being subsidized by other countries under very interesting agreements to say the least. To bring these bases back to American soil, Americans would then have to flip the bill.

This book was a very eye opening read, and gave me a better picture of how the US defense system is currently organized.

A solid 9/10 for a great read on the state of the US Defense Department and Political System per say.