REGULATING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MILITARY BASES IN FOREIGN 

COUNTRIES 

Committee: Security Council Student Officers: Anas El-Mansy and Mohamed Hesham 

   

 

Table Of Content  

Introduction to forum: 2 Key issues: 4 Involved Countries: 6 

Timeline: 13 Past Attempts to Solve the Issue: 15 Conclusion: 16 

References: 16 

   

Introduction to forum: 

 

General Facts: 

The Security Council was officially formulated on the 17th of January 1946 with its first session                               

which was held in London. The main headquarters of the Security Council is located in New                               

York city . The forum consists of 15 member states which are divided into types: permanent and                               1

non- permanent. There are five constant states that are considered permanent which are: People                           

Republic of China, Russian Federation, England, France, United States of America. This                       

permanent status means that they are granted with some privileges including their particular type                           

of voting called “veto”. This veto power enables every member of the five members to cause any                                 

resolution to fail with one negative vote. The five members were granted with this privileges                             

based on a decision that was taken in the United Nations Charter because of their significant                               

contribution in the creation of the United Nations . The 10 remaining members are elected by the                               2

United Nations General Assembly on a geographical basis . 3

 

 

 

1 “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN, Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sc/about/. 2 “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN, Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sc/about/. 3 “Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “United Nations Security Council.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Security-Council

Functions of the Security Council in Regulating Military Bases in Foreign Countries: 

 

One of the security council’s main functions is to investigate any dispute or situation which                             

might lead to international friction. This function is the main focus when we are targeting                             

regulation of military bases in foreign countries. Since most veto countries are countries with the 

most military bases in foreign countries, the first reason to why it is our main focus in this forum                                     

is the presence of “veto” powers and non “veto” powers. This gives the council a respective                               

opportunity to discuss both sides and reach a well-supported resolution. The second reason is                           

that there are countries who have foreign military bases within their countries and can do nothing                               

about it. This council will give them an alternative to avoid any international friction4. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN,                           

Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations,                 

www.un.org/en/sc/about/functions.shtml. 

   

Overview 

Key issues: 

 

Why have military bases in foreign countries become a problem? Well, these military bases 

tackle a lot of key issues that not everyone sees but we should emphasize on. The first key issue 

is the need for international/occupational expansion by large countries. In other words, these 

countries have that desire to occupy other countries and expand their nation. The issue that 

follows is gaining control over natural resources. Interpreted in another way, this means 

countries want to expand their natural resources and have a bigger variety of it. The third and 4

most important issue is the conflicting political interests between countries that might lead them 

to occupy one another. The last issue we will be focusing upon is the threat causing terrorist 

groups that might serve as a threat to some countries that might lead them to gain control over 

nearby countries to assure safety in a way or another.  

4 Dahir, Abdi Latif. “How a Tiny African Country Became the World's Key Military Base.” Quartz, Quartz, 9 Oct. 2017, qz.com/africa/1056257/how-a-tiny-african-country-became-the-worlds-key-military-base/.

Key terms  

 

Terms   Definition  

Military bases   Is an institution created to serve as support for military 

operations and logistics.  5

Potential superpower  A state or a political and economic entity that is speculated 

to be or to have the potential to be or to have the potential to 

soon become a superpower.  6

Terrorism   Terrorism is usually understood as the use or threat of 

violence to further a political cause.  7

Veto  Privileges that are granted to some countries that can cause a 

resolution to fail by one negative vote.  8

Occupation   the action, state, or period of occupying or being occupied by 

military force.  9

   

5 Thackrah, J. R. (April 3, 2018). "Military base definition". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved April 3, 2018. 6 “Superpower.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/superpower. 7 Jenkins, John Philip. “Terrorism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism. 8 UN Charter, Article 27, as amended in 1965. Before that date, Articles 27(2) and (3) had specified the affirmative votes of seven members. The change was part of the process whereby the size of the Council was increased from 11 to 15 members. 9 “Occupation.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occupation.

Involved Countries: 

 

United States of America : the US has by far the greatest amount of foreign military bases                               

around the world with an estimated number of 800 bases in more than 100 countries and these                                 

bases vary from air force bases, land bases, navy bases and spy bases. The number of US                                 

personnel’s ranges from 10 to 1000 personals and this wide range depends nearly on the                             

geographical position and economic situation of each country and also the size of the military                             

base . The event that initiated and sparked up such a huge amount of military bases for the US                                   10

dates back to the time after World war II and during the cold war when US officials made an                                     

agreement with various countries including Germany, Japan and South Korea to let their forces                           

establish a military presence within these countries in exchange for providing protection for                         

these countries and maintaining peace and security. This deal was very beneficial for these                           

countries when bearing in mind the presence of threats from superpower nations including                         

Russia and China who wanted to expand their territory at that time . During the 21st century,                                 11 12

the US government made some justifications for their unregulated number of military bases                         

including the global war on terrorism campaign, which gave the US the chance to settle military                               

bases in countries with particular association with al Qaeda including Iraq and Afghanistan with                           

10 dufour, Jules. “The Wordwide Network of US Military Bases.” Www.globalresearch.ca, Global Research, 1 July 2007, www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-bases-2/5564  11 “Why Does the US Have 800 Military Bases around the World? ” YouTube, Vox, 18 May 2015 https://youtu.be/gU8rQWh_qtc  12 editors of CFA. “The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 1 June 2014, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-japan-security-alliance. 

the aim of eliminating terrorism and maintaining peace 4. In the perspective of the US                             

government, American leadership is required to retain stability of the globe 5. 

 

Frank jacobs. “The World's Five Military Empires.” Big Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-worlds-five-military-empires   United Kingdom: UK has the second greatest amount of foreign military bases around the world                             

with an estimated number of 16 foreign countries with military bases including military training                           

centers, submarine bases, air force and navy . UK ratified the status of forces agreement which                             13

includes a number of articles that are concerned with regulating the number foreign military                           

13 “Where Are the World's Major Military Bases?” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 11 July 2013, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10173740/Where-are-the-worlds-major-military-bases.html.  

bases and operating of foreign military bases at the consent of the host country that is hosting                                 

these military bases . 14

 

Frank jacobs. “The World's Five Military Empires.” Big Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-worlds-five-military-empires  

Russian Federation: The Russian Federation has an estimated amount of 21 foreign military                         

bases including motor-rifle divisions, radar bases, missile testing range, ports and air forces. In                           

2014, Russia exploited the state of chaos in Ukraine between the government and the citizens                             

and they annexed the Crimean Peninsula making it a military base for their black sea fleet in the                                   

14 Commonwealth Office. “Agreement Regarding the Status of Forces of Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.” GOV.UK, GOV.UK, 1 Jan. 1955, www.gov.uk/government/publications/agreement-regarding-the-status-of-forces-of-parties-to-the-north-atlantic-treaty.  

Crimean port of Sevastopol. In 2015, the Russian government deployed their air forces into Syria                             

to destroy different organizations that opposed the Syrian Government after an alliance made                         

between the two government. Currently, Russia owns air-fields for missile testing and ports in                           

Syria . 15

 

 

France : France has an estimated amount of 11 foreign military bases and most of these bases are                                 

located in Africa . The reason why most French military bases are located in Africa dates back                               16

15 Sharkov, Damien. “Russia's Military Compared to the U.S. across the World.” Newsweek, 3 June 2018, www.newsweek.com/russias-military-compared-us-which-country-has-more-military-bases-across-954328   16 Frank jacobs. “The World's Five Military Empires.” Big Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-worlds-five-military-empires  

to the mid-1800s when France started what they called a civilizing mission in Africa where it                               

invaded huge parts in different areas of Africa. Despite the fact that lots of these colonies gained                                 

independence by 1960, France kept a network of relations between its former colonies in the                             

France Afrique-relationship which allowed France to establish lots of military bases in countries                         

like Djibouti, Senegal, Niger and Ivory Coast and also it helped France to benefit economically                             

from natural resources in these countries including gold, iron and oil . In addition to Africa,                               17

France established a military base in the United Arab Emirates in 2009 with the aim of                               

establishing a training camp for the French forces and strengthening the military operations with                           

the United Arab Emirates . For a country like France, regulating the foreign military bases                           18

would have a negative effect on its economy because a huge percentage of France wealth comes                               

from the France Afrique-relations which enables France to use the natural resources in many                           

countries in the African continent 8.  

17 “Africa's French Problem.” YouTube, 28 Aug. 2017,.https://youtu.be/l5Lk3pv20SY  18 English, FRANCE 24. “Sarkozy Opens French Military Base in Abu Dhabi.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 May 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEOZ_koB1qM

 

Frank jacobs. “The World's Five Military Empires.” Big Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-worlds-five-military-empires  

Djibouti: Djibouti is currently hosting military bases of major powerful nations including USA,                         

France, Japan and China. The Country geographical position which is very close to conflict                           

zones like Yemen, Sudan and Somalia and at the entrance of the red sea which is joining trade                                   

routes between Asia and Europe makes it an essential place for these powerful nations to                             

establish military bases . Djibouti’s government is very welcoming to any foreign military                           19 20

bases within its borders as these bases help Djibouti economically by increasing its GDP which                             

19 World, Now This. “Why Do So Many Countries Have Military Bases In Djibouti?” YouTube, YouTube, 5 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuzW2Ue_yc.  20 Macaes, Bruno. “The Most Valuable Military Real Estate in the World.” POLITICO, 16 Jan. 2018, www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2018/01/the-most-valuable-military-real-estate-in-the-world/.  

is flourished from the rent that is paid by these powerful nations in order to establish the military                                   

base 10. 

 

 

Allison, Simon. “Djibouti's Greatest Threat May Come from Within.” The M&G Online,  

https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-02-00-djiboutis-greatest-threat-may-come-from-within 

 

   

Timeline:  

 

 

● (1960) Treaty of mutual cooperation between the US and Japan : At the point when the 

Treaty was first marked, it contained provisions that allowed the United States to act for 

the purpose of ensuring peace in East Asia and even exert its power on Japanese 

residential fights.  21

● (1961) Berlin War: The last major political military European incident of the Cold War 

was about the occupational status of the German capital city, Berlin . The Berlin Crisis 

started when the Soviet Union demanded the removal of all armed forces from Berlin, 

including the Western armed forces in West Berlin.  

21 Gordon, Andrew (2003). A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present. New York: Oxford University Press.

● (2001) US war on terror: The War on Terror, also known as the Global War on 

Terrorism, is an international military campaign that was launched by the United States 

after the September 11 attacks against the United States. 

● (2011) Syrian civil war: The situation in Syria is considered as one of the most brutal 

battlefields that includes all types of these actions that are already threatening 

international peace and security.  

   

Past Attempts to Solve the Issue: 

The Status of Forces Agreement ( 1951) :   

The SOFA is an agreement between the member states of the North Atlantic treaty                             

organization ( NATO) to regulate the number of foreign military personnel’s inside each                         

member state through giving full sovereignty to the hosting state. These foreign military                         

personnel’s would operate under the rules and regulations given by the hosting state.  22 23

The Visiting Forces Act ( 1952): 

The VFA is an act that was created by United Kingdom to provide a clear regulation                                 

system for any forces visiting the UK. This act was extended beyond UK and into the                               

laws of the other NATO member states by 1964. On 1995, the act extended once again to                                 

include countries who took place in the partnership for peace program which was created                           

to enhance the relations between NATO member states and other European nations. The                         

act also reached third countries which were not members of NATO or the PFP program.  24

   

22 NATO. “Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of Their Forces.” NATO, www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17265.htm.  23 Commonwealth Office. “Agreement Regarding the Status of Forces of Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.” GOV.UK, GOV.UK, 1 Jan. 1955, www.gov.uk/government/publications/agreement-regarding-the-status-of-forces-of-parties-to-the-north-atlantic-treaty.f  24 . “Visiting Forces Act 1952.” Legislation.gov.uk, Statute Law Database, 1 July 1976, www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6and1Eliz2/15-16/67/contents. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06808/SN06808.pdf https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_50086.htm   

Conclusion: 

 The Security Council calls upon all member states to agree together on a sustainable and 

achievable course of action in order to resolve the issue being discussed which is regulating the 

establishment of military bases in foreign countries. The security council urges that due to its 

main objectives of maintaining international peace and security and dealing with any situation 

that might cause the presence of international friction. It is utterly visible that the non-regulation 

of establishment of military bases in foreign countries has been unaddressed for the past few 

years, thus the Security Council would urge to reach a reasonable and peaceful resolution for this 

dilemma.  

 

References: [1] “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN, Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sc/about/.   2 “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN, Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations, www.un.org/en/sc/about/.   3 “Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopedia. “United Nations Security Council.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 14 Feb. 2018,  www.britannica.com/topic/United-Nations-Security-Council   4 “Security Council, SC, UNSC, Security, Peace, Sanctions, Veto, Resolution, President, United Nations, UN,                           

Peacekeeping, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, Prevention.” United Nations, United Nations, 

www.un.org/en/sc/about/functions.shtml. 

4 Dahir, Abdi Latif. “How a Tiny African Country Became the World's Key Military Base.” Quartz, Quartz, 9 Oct.                                     

2017, qz.com/africa/1056257/how-a-tiny-african-country-became-the-worlds-key-military-base/. 

5 Thackrah, J. R. (April 3, 2018). "Military base definition". Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved April 3, 2018. 

6 “Superpower.” Dictionary.com, Dictionary.com, www.dictionary.com/browse/superpower. 7Jenkins, John Philip. “Terrorism.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 26 Oct. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/terrorism. 8 UN Charter, Article 27, as amended in 1965. Before that date, Articles 27(2) and (3) had specified the affirmative votes of seven members. The change was part of the process whereby the size of the Council was increased from 11 to 15 members. 9 “Occupation.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occupation. 

10 dufour, Jules. “The Wordwide Network of US Military Bases.” Www.globalresearch.ca, Global Research, 1 July 2007, www.globalresearch.ca/the-worldwide-network-of-us-military-bases-2/5564   11 “Why Does the US Have 800 Military Bases around the World? ” YouTube, Vox, 18 May 2015 https://youtu.be/gU8rQWh_qtc   12 editors of CFA. “The U.S.-Japan Security Alliance.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations,                               

1 June 2014, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-japan-security-alliance. 

13 “Where Are the World's Major Military Bases?” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 11 July 2013, www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/defence/10173740/Where-are-the-worlds-major-military-bases.html.   14 Commonwealth Office. “Agreement Regarding the Status of Forces of Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.” GOV.UK, GOV.UK, 1 Jan. 1955, www.gov.uk/government/publications/agreement-regarding-the-status-of-forces-of-parties-to-the-north-atlantic-treaty.   

15 Sharkov, Damien. “Russia's Military Compared to the U.S. across the World.” Newsweek, 3 June 2018, www.newsweek.com/russias-military-compared-us-which-country-has-more-military-bases-across-954328     16 Frank jacobs. “The World's Five Military Empires.” Big Think, Big Think, 5 Oct. 2018, https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/the-worlds-five-military-empires   

17 “Africa's French Problem.” YouTube, 28 Aug. 2017,.https://youtu.be/l5Lk3pv20SY   18 English, FRANCE 24. “Sarkozy Opens French Military Base in Abu Dhabi.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 May 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEOZ_koB1qM   19 World, Now This. “Why Do So Many Countries Have Military Bases In Djibouti?” YouTube, YouTube, 5 June 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOuzW2Ue_yc.   20 Macaes, Bruno. “The Most Valuable Military Real Estate in the World.” POLITICO, 16 Jan. 2018, www.politico.eu/blogs/the-coming-wars/2018/01/the-most-valuable-military-real-estate-in-the-world/   Allison, Simon. “Djibouti's Greatest Threat May Come from Within.” The M&G Online, 

https://mg.co.za/article/2018-03-02-00-djiboutis-greatest-threat-may-come-from-within 

21 Gordon, Andrew (2003). A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa times to the Present. New York: Oxford                                   

University Press. 

  

22 NATO. “Agreement between the Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty Regarding the Status of Their Forces.” NATO, www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/official_texts_17265.htm.   23 Commonwealth Office. “Agreement Regarding the Status of Forces of Parties to the North Atlantic Treaty.” GOV.UK, GOV.UK, 1 Jan. 1955, www.gov.uk/government/publications/agreement-regarding-the-status-of-forces-of-parties-to-the-north-atlantic-treaty.f   24 . “Visiting Forces Act 1952.” Legislation.gov.uk, Statute Law Database, 1 July 1976, www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6and1Eliz2/15-16/67/contents. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN06808/SN06808.pdf https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_50086.htm 

 

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