The United States of America has been openly and continuously ensuring their global hegemonic status by implanting over 800 military bases reaching from Greenland to Japan across the world. The true figure is hard to determine as the USA does not include many it does not accept as theirs, preferring to name other nations in whose country the bases are located as the ‘occupiers’ and the ones it does not even admit exist (especially in Africa and South America) cannot be easily quantified due to hiding the verifiable factual data. The Pentagon expressly does not give any information regarding these bases.
The military bases enable the USA to rapidly deploy substantial well equipped military forces to any part of the globe so as to prevent any escalation in freedom from their control, outside of what they magnanimously allow. Nations who want to throw off the yoke under which they subsist are kept aware that a hostile force, the USA, are not far away and ready to intervene to ensure that the system and its puppets remain in power. No part of the world is safe from their domination apart from Russia, China, India, North Korea or the few nations that can effectively retaliate and fight should the need arise. These nations all have the ability to counter the USA’s implied and real-Japan is the oft quoted example- Nuclear Threat by their own Nuclear Deterrence capability. The sheer scale of the USA’s open threat to all the nations of the world cannot be underestimated which is the main reason why most of the ‘3rd ‘ world or Global South live in extreme poverty with little or no advance in technology, infrastructure, education, nutrition and the quality of life let alone life expectancy. The systems they put in place to ensure that western nations, the pre-eminent among whom the United States of America stands head and shoulders above the rest, remain in place so ensuring a constant stream of commodities at below market prices, economies dependent on the Dollar and western financial instruments (all loaded against them) and a debased society where true opposition never gets a voice or the chance to form viable alternative governments, remain relatively untouched by progress.
The sheer scale of the overwhelming military presence globally cannot be underestimated. The largest military is the USA, followed by the United Kingdom and France whose presence is as difficult to ascertain as fully as that of the USA as there are many contractors and private corporations providing everything from information and training to organising the transfer of arms and more. These are not officially classified as military personnel from the USA, UK or France even though they are citizens of those nations, a convenient ‘plausible deniability’ get out of jail card when asked whether these personnel represent the official governments of the USA, UK and France.
Given the trend to include all manner of NGOs, NPOs and other organisations offering help, education and training in the so called public sector (who are their personnel?), the true figure of the number of military both present and officially ex (they resign from the military and offer their ‘services’ through private companies), it is hard to gauge, giving a possible margin of error of 10 to 20 % overall (though some sources estimate much higher figures).
The military and weaponry at the command of the USA are placed in around 800 + locations worldwide in officially over 80 nations (the oft quoted ‘real’ figure is 174 countries). The Pentagon give a figure of 625 bases globally leaving out Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo and Kuwait, Syria and other nations. In Aruba, Bahrain, Cuba, Djibouti, Estonia, Greece, Honduras, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Marshall Islands, Norway, Oman, Philippines, Qatar, Romania, Spain, Tunisia, the United Kingdom, the US Virgin Islands and Wake Island, the USA maintains operational active bases. The number of active military personnel is given as 171,736 (October 2023) with the largest number of personnel and bases in Japan (54,000 personnel approximately and 120 bases), Germany (36,000 personnel approximately and 119 bases) and South Korea (25, 000 personnel approximately and 73 bases) and in the EU (European Union), Italy (44 Bases, personnel?). South Korea hosts the largest US military base in the world, Camp Humphreys, south of the capital, Seoul. All the continents globally are subject to a US military presence often under the guise of ‘regional security’, most often officially at the behest of the vassal nation in which they are placed. Even when the nations like Iraq and Syria have not requested but demanded their removal, the United States categorically refuses to do so and remains as a malevolent occupying force.
The unparalleled degree of intimidation is achieved not only by the presence of the USA’s military but by hostile acts such as refusing a British Court to convene a hearing on Diego Garcia regarding the original inhabitant’s rights in terms of compensation and legal status. This is officially under the control of the United Kingdom and used by the USA with permission from the UK. South America, 
the Middle East (Iraq still has numerous US bases despite calling for their withdrawal), Africa (Burkina Faso has a ‘cooperative security location’ from the USA on its soil, a ‘lily pad’ base) and most parts of the world especially the Caribbean (Honduras has no official base but the US military have been stationed there since 1992) have decades of American forces occupying and destabilising the nations keeping them subservient and exploitable. The issue of War increases the number of American servicemen greatly with the Ukraine Russia War leading to increased numbers of trained military personnel being placed both in Ukraine and in many countries in the EU. Only some are troops, the rest are trainers, advisors, ‘administrators’ or more conveniently, private individuals contracted to military contractors working for the US Government via 3rd party corporations. It is almost impossible to gain accurate figures as many of the technical issues raised by today’s advanced weaponry cannot be overcome without lengthy (1 year minimum) training so implying American servicemen must operate them or they are ineffective. This spills over in many areas of the military machine and so estimates range from 5,000 to 15,000 military ‘people’ being present in the EU. If we try to quantify Taiwan we have to look at the allies and vassal states of the USA like South Korea, the Philippines (600 official troops are stationed there with another 6,000 counter insurgency ‘operatives’ using 7 lily pads), Thailand (space at the U-Tapao Naval Base is rented by the USA so no military presence is officially applicable), Australia and the Pacific nations as well as the obvious one of Japan. The same applies to the Middle East, Africa and South America as well as the nations east of Turkey, as many of the smaller ones have bases to ensure the stability of the government and because of local insurgencies which are most often supplied and financed by the USA via NGO’s and NPO’s. Colour revolutions ( like the ones recently attempted in Georgia and Kazakhstan) require meticulous planning and execution, and overall, long term strategy backed by overpowering force to ensure it gets the time to play out. Having an open show of tangible force is a very good way to ensure few if any interruptions to the ongoing extraction of commodities and control of the nation.
The United Kingdom or Great Britain has overseas bases positioned to allow them to use Expeditionary Forces so ensuring a forward presence in a short period of time, in the event of a confrontation arising. There are 145 military ‘installations’ worldwide in 42 countries with no official designation that they are bases but past usage showing clearly that they can be utilised as such very quickly when needed. Globally, 60 bases or installations are directly under the control of the British Armed Forces with allied countries hosting 69 bases alone. Great Britain has a naval base in Singapore, garrisons in Brunei, facilities in Australia (apparently for testing ‘drones’), three military bases in Nepal and even today, a base housing ‘a quick reaction force’ in Afghanistan. Cyprus has 17 official military bases with others located outside the UK’s ‘sovereign base area”. They have bases in 7 Arab nations like Syria and Bahrain with a further 15 in Saudi Arabia and 16 in Oman. In Africa they are stationed in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Djibouti, Somalia and Kenya and this does not include ‘lily pad’ bases located across other nations bordering these countries. Strangely, the United Kingdom has bases in 2 of the world’s most prominent tax havens, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. The United Kingdom has placed most of its overseas bases on former colonies and British Overseas Territories, all as usual under the all encompassing umbrella of ‘The Commonwealth”. They work closely with their allies, the United States in particular and the recent Israel and Palestine War highlighted this when it became evident that the UK was supplying the USA and Israel with information obtained from its radar and other ‘listening ‘facilities in Cyprus regarding Hamas and Palestinian resistance fighters. The same is true for the Ukraine Russia conflict. It is worth noting that six of the nations that ‘host’ British bases are listed on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s List of Human Rights Priority Countries and are Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and Somalia ( it must be coincidental). US bases have been used no less than 25 times since 1980 to launch wars, counter offensives and military interventions in 15 nations in the Middle East in order to maintain the status quo, most often to the long term detriment of the nation/s affected on all levels from economic to social. The official UK Government figures regarding the number of UK Regular forces stationed overseas is given as 5,700 (April 2024) and ‘Civilian’ military personnel as 4,520 (April 2024). It must be asked who are these ‘civilian’ personnel and exactly what role that is not disclosed, do they play in the event of a situation arising where their ‘skills’ are needed.
France maintains overseas bases in 16 countries with approximately 17,450 military personnel stationed in them. They are listed in French as ‘prepositioned forces’ and are ‘the forces of presence’ France locates in areas that are of diplomatic, economic and above all, strategic importance. Like the United Kingdom, France labels them ‘expeditionary forces’ when they are put into action. Countries with permanently stationed bases (some for decades) include Guyana, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, the United Arab Emirates, Djibouti, Ivory Coast and Germany where there are around 500 French military personnel stationed at any time. This has changed recently with the expulsion of French forces from Niger, Mali and other African nations who are in the process of removing the yolk placed on them over centuries by France , the country espousing ‘Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite”. France has maintained the CFA Franc in Francophone Africa by means of unsubtle regime change, insurgencies, direct military intervention and the continued presence of overwhelming might provided by the French Forces located on the bases across Africa which has allowed France to gain substantially economically.
The obvious questions regarding the imposition of these overseas military bases are firstly, what do they cost to maintain and secondly, what is the amount of profit they ensure flows into the economy of the nation maintaining these bases. There are of course other questions that arise such as the economic, social, environmental and legal impact that these bases place on the ‘host’ nation and the effect on the militarising intruder nation itself given its personnel are not at home but on a base with all that implies financially, socially and on. In the case of the USA, the answer is approximately 150 to 250 Billion US Dollars per annum and is a figure that most sources agree on. This figure includes the cost of maintaining the base (infrastructure etc.), the cost of the personnel manning it and the cost of the armaments (basics only though these basics usually outweigh any arms other neighbouring nations may possess). The cost of the weaponry supplied does not match with the weaponry available in the bases and this figure is not published anywhere available. 
The annual figure however does not account for the unmarked or unaccounted bases like the ‘lily pad’ bases (compact, time effective and easily abandoned) and the obvious addition of armaments. The United Kingdom publishes official figures for operating overseas military bases annually which interestingly, do not include the cost of the personnel manning them. For 2020 to 2021, the figure is 171.70 Million Pounds Sterling which is risible if one even estimates the cost of maintain them excluding armaments, technology improvements, upgrading and other related costs. France’s costs for maintaining these bases around the world are not disclosed in the official figures they release regarding the military budget but these bases make clear France’s commitment to ensuring the continuance of its global influence and its pursuit of economic profit, no matter what it takes.
The second question is really quite difficult to answer given the USA, UK and France have crafted the ability over decades and centuries to present data which is effectively only partially true as it is hidden and minimally released or as in its GDP figures by showing imports as manufactured goods by themselves and other neat ways to massage the true figures so as to appear to have economies that are healthier than they are. Where the money comes from is therefore not as clear as supposed nor as obvious However, none of these 3 nations have an obvious history of altruistic acts unless it suits them and then only sporadically so as not to confuse those countries they benefit from with the idea that this is normal practice. The profit margins are huge and all 3 nations benefit greatly, far outweighing the amount they spend to maintain and staff these bases. It is noteworthy that the USA with a total debt of approximately 34.63 Trillion US Dollars + or – has placed many of its bases in the nations it is indebted to apart from China to whom it owes the most (1.5 Trillion US Dollars), and in close proximity to others it owes less to. The USA owes approximately 7.5 Trillion US Dollars to Japan (1.2 Trillion), the United Kingdom (700 Billion), Belgium and Luxembourg (350 Billion each), Switzerland and the Cayman Islands (300 Billion each), Canada, Ireland and India (around the 250 Billion mark each), Saudi Arabia (110 Billion), United Arab Emirates (70 Billion), Israel, Kuwait and Iraq (around the 40+ Billion mark each). This must be for the long term security of these ally nations surely? There is obviously no profit in it for the occupying nations like America, Britain or France is there?
I mulled over the usual question of references, how many and what data is given a reference and came to the conclusion that the paucity of reliable and verifiable material available, it would become an exercise in ever increasing half truths. It became apparent the data from available official or authoritative sources was flawed (to be expected) but that the data unofficially available was just as flawed (due to agenda overlays) made it near impossible to cross reference verifiable sources. Apart from the purely political and economic issues involved in having overseas bases with your electorate, the occupying country maintaining the bases has to deal with the international community and so by extension, international laws and treaties and so treads a relatively careful step when finance or any figure work arises. Therefore all financial data must be read as on the low side with a margin of error (purposefully underplaying the cost) of anywhere from 25% +.
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