About David
David Vine is a writer and political anthropologist. David is the author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World (Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt, 2015) and Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2009).
David's newest book, The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State was published by the University of California Press. The book was a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History. A proposal for the book won the 2018 University of California Press Series in Public Anthropology International Book Competition. To learn more, visit www.davidvine.net
As part of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, David helped compile and write Militarization: A Reader (Duke University Press, 2019) and The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual, or Notes on Demilitarizing American Society (Prickly Paradigm Press, 2009). David's other writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Boston Globe, Mother Jones, Chronicle of Higher Education, International Migration, and Human Rights Brief, among others.
David is a founder and coordinator of the Network to Dismantle the Military Industrial Complex; co-founder and coordinator of the Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition; contributor to Brown University's Costs of War Project; and fellow at the Transition Security Project. David has also worked and published with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Center for International Policy.
David was a professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, DC, for 18 years before resigning with the rank of full professor in 2024. Read David's last op-ed in the American University student newspaper here.
Many of David’s other articles on bases, war, and foreign policy as well as information about his other books The United States of War and Island of Shame among other work can be found at www.davidvine.net.
For photographs of bases from my research, find me on Instagram.
All proceeds from Base Nation are donated to nonprofit organizations serving military veterans, their families, and other victims of war and violence.
David's newest book, The United States of War: A Global History of America's Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State was published by the University of California Press. The book was a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History. A proposal for the book won the 2018 University of California Press Series in Public Anthropology International Book Competition. To learn more, visit www.davidvine.net
As part of the Network of Concerned Anthropologists, David helped compile and write Militarization: A Reader (Duke University Press, 2019) and The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual, or Notes on Demilitarizing American Society (Prickly Paradigm Press, 2009). David's other writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, Boston Globe, Mother Jones, Chronicle of Higher Education, International Migration, and Human Rights Brief, among others.
David is a founder and coordinator of the Network to Dismantle the Military Industrial Complex; co-founder and coordinator of the Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition; contributor to Brown University's Costs of War Project; and fellow at the Transition Security Project. David has also worked and published with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, the Institute for Policy Studies, and the Center for International Policy.
David was a professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, DC, for 18 years before resigning with the rank of full professor in 2024. Read David's last op-ed in the American University student newspaper here.
Many of David’s other articles on bases, war, and foreign policy as well as information about his other books The United States of War and Island of Shame among other work can be found at www.davidvine.net.
For photographs of bases from my research, find me on Instagram.
All proceeds from Base Nation are donated to nonprofit organizations serving military veterans, their families, and other victims of war and violence.
David Vine's c.v. can be found at www.davidvine.net/bio-and-events
Recent Articles
"The True Cost of the U.S. Military in South Korea," International Policy Journal, Center for International
Policy, July 23, 2026 .
"Is the Era of U.S. Military Bases in the Middle East Over?" The Nation, July 30, 2026 .
"U.S. Military Fuels Extreme Weather Events," Foreign Policy in Focus, April 24, 2026.
"Hosts Have Power Over Dangerous Guests: Spain Shows How Countries Hosting U.S. Bases Can Push
for Peace," 2nd author with Sahar Khan, Counterpunch, March 27, 2026.
"Did Iran Attack Diego Garcia," Foreign Policy in Focus, March 25, 2026.
"Build Back (Much, Much) Worse: President Joe Biden has given new life to a long-outdated World War II-era strategy of deploying hundreds of U.S. military bases and hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops outside the United States." The Progressive, August 2023.
"Drawdown: Improving U.S. and Global Security Through Military Base Closures Abroad," with Patterson Deppen and Leah Bolger, Quincy Brief No. 16, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft/World BEYOND War, September 2021.
"Not Just about Subs, AUKUS Expands US Military Footprint in Australia, Too," Responsible Statecraft, September 20, 2021.
"Nine Ways that Drawing Down Overseas Bases Will Improve US Security. With Andrew Bacevich. Responsible Statecraft, March 9, 2021.
"Diego Garcia: Troubled Past, Uncertain Futures," The Diplomat, July 2019.
"No Bases? How Social Movements against U.S. Military Bases Abroad Are Challenging Militarization and Militarism," supplemental issue, “Cultures of Militarism,” edited by Catherine Besteman and Hugh Gusterson. Current Anthropology 60, supp. 19: S158-S172.
Most Countries Have Given Up Their Colonies. Why Hasn’t America? Washington Post, September 28, 2017.
“Forty-five Blows Against Democracy: How U.S. Military Bases Back Dictators, Autocrats, and Military Regimes.” TomDispatch.com, May 16, 2017.
"Don’t Just Close Bases at Home, Close Them Overseas," New York Times op-ed, July 27, 2015.
“Everyone Has the Right to Live on Their Island. Why Not Us?” Foreign Policy in Focus, December 6, 2016 .
Atoning for Washington’s “Mass Kidnapping” in the Indian Ocean. Nation, July 11, 2016.
"Doubling Down on a Failed Strategy: The Pentagon’s Dangerous “New” Base Plan," TomDispatch.com, January 14, 2016.
"Garrisoning the Globe: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Undermine National Security and Harm Us All," TomDispatch.com, September 13, 2015.
"The Lily Pad Strategy: American Military Extends Its Reach Worldwide," Investigative Reporting Workshop, August 25, 2015.
"Where in the World Is the U.S. Military?" Politico, July/August 2015.
"US military’s ‘Lily Pad’ Expansion May Prove Costly," Boston Globe, July 9, 2015.
"The Forgotten Costs of War in the Middle East The Truth About Diego Garcia, And 50 Years of Fiction About an American Military Base," TomDispatch.com, June 14, 2015.
"A Permanent Infrastructure for Permanent War: The Bases of War in the Middle East; From Carter to the Islamic State, 35 Years of Building Bases and Sowing Disaster," TomDispatch.com, November 13, 2015.
For more articles, see http://www.davidvine.net/military-bases.html
Policy, July 23, 2026 .
"Is the Era of U.S. Military Bases in the Middle East Over?" The Nation, July 30, 2026 .
"U.S. Military Fuels Extreme Weather Events," Foreign Policy in Focus, April 24, 2026.
"Hosts Have Power Over Dangerous Guests: Spain Shows How Countries Hosting U.S. Bases Can Push
for Peace," 2nd author with Sahar Khan, Counterpunch, March 27, 2026.
"Did Iran Attack Diego Garcia," Foreign Policy in Focus, March 25, 2026.
"Build Back (Much, Much) Worse: President Joe Biden has given new life to a long-outdated World War II-era strategy of deploying hundreds of U.S. military bases and hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops outside the United States." The Progressive, August 2023.
"Drawdown: Improving U.S. and Global Security Through Military Base Closures Abroad," with Patterson Deppen and Leah Bolger, Quincy Brief No. 16, Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft/World BEYOND War, September 2021.
"Not Just about Subs, AUKUS Expands US Military Footprint in Australia, Too," Responsible Statecraft, September 20, 2021.
"Nine Ways that Drawing Down Overseas Bases Will Improve US Security. With Andrew Bacevich. Responsible Statecraft, March 9, 2021.
"Diego Garcia: Troubled Past, Uncertain Futures," The Diplomat, July 2019.
"No Bases? How Social Movements against U.S. Military Bases Abroad Are Challenging Militarization and Militarism," supplemental issue, “Cultures of Militarism,” edited by Catherine Besteman and Hugh Gusterson. Current Anthropology 60, supp. 19: S158-S172.
Most Countries Have Given Up Their Colonies. Why Hasn’t America? Washington Post, September 28, 2017.
“Forty-five Blows Against Democracy: How U.S. Military Bases Back Dictators, Autocrats, and Military Regimes.” TomDispatch.com, May 16, 2017.
"Don’t Just Close Bases at Home, Close Them Overseas," New York Times op-ed, July 27, 2015.
“Everyone Has the Right to Live on Their Island. Why Not Us?” Foreign Policy in Focus, December 6, 2016 .
Atoning for Washington’s “Mass Kidnapping” in the Indian Ocean. Nation, July 11, 2016.
"Doubling Down on a Failed Strategy: The Pentagon’s Dangerous “New” Base Plan," TomDispatch.com, January 14, 2016.
"Garrisoning the Globe: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Undermine National Security and Harm Us All," TomDispatch.com, September 13, 2015.
"The Lily Pad Strategy: American Military Extends Its Reach Worldwide," Investigative Reporting Workshop, August 25, 2015.
"Where in the World Is the U.S. Military?" Politico, July/August 2015.
"US military’s ‘Lily Pad’ Expansion May Prove Costly," Boston Globe, July 9, 2015.
"The Forgotten Costs of War in the Middle East The Truth About Diego Garcia, And 50 Years of Fiction About an American Military Base," TomDispatch.com, June 14, 2015.
"A Permanent Infrastructure for Permanent War: The Bases of War in the Middle East; From Carter to the Islamic State, 35 Years of Building Bases and Sowing Disaster," TomDispatch.com, November 13, 2015.
For more articles, see http://www.davidvine.net/military-bases.html
Slide Presentations
"Military Bases and US Empire," Malaya New York, 4/30/23.
"Garrisoning the Globe: US Military Bases Overseas," Move the Money Task Force NYC, 6/7/22.
"No to Military Bases and War" Conference, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 7/9/21.
University of California Press Series in Public Anthropology New Books Cafe, 10/23/20.
The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State Book Launch, Politics and Prose Bookstore, 10/13/20.
"An Unprecedented Moment: Strategizing to Build a Broader Coalition to Close U.S. Bases Abroad," Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases, University of Baltimore, MD, 1/13/18.
“'What Are We Getting Out of This?': U.S. Empire and the Military Overseas under Trump,” new Base Nation talk, 11/17.
Donations
All proceeds from Base Nation's royalties and honorariums from talks go to nonprofit organizations serving military veterans, their families, and other victims of war and violence. These organizations have included Doctors without Borders, Wounded Warriors Family Support, Service Women's Action Network, Partners in Health, Emergency USA, About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly, Iraq Veterans against the War), Amnesty International, UNWRA, We Are Guahan, Chagos Refugees Group, Chagos Refugees Group UK, and Honduras Solidarity Network.
"Military Bases and US Empire," Malaya New York, 4/30/23.
"Garrisoning the Globe: US Military Bases Overseas," Move the Money Task Force NYC, 6/7/22.
"No to Military Bases and War" Conference, Kaiserslautern, Germany, 7/9/21.
University of California Press Series in Public Anthropology New Books Cafe, 10/23/20.
The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State Book Launch, Politics and Prose Bookstore, 10/13/20.
"An Unprecedented Moment: Strategizing to Build a Broader Coalition to Close U.S. Bases Abroad," Conference on U.S. Foreign Military Bases, University of Baltimore, MD, 1/13/18.
“'What Are We Getting Out of This?': U.S. Empire and the Military Overseas under Trump,” new Base Nation talk, 11/17.
Donations
All proceeds from Base Nation's royalties and honorariums from talks go to nonprofit organizations serving military veterans, their families, and other victims of war and violence. These organizations have included Doctors without Borders, Wounded Warriors Family Support, Service Women's Action Network, Partners in Health, Emergency USA, About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly, Iraq Veterans against the War), Amnesty International, UNWRA, We Are Guahan, Chagos Refugees Group, Chagos Refugees Group UK, and Honduras Solidarity Network.