Comment by convolvatron

despite how common this opinion is, it fails to recognize that the US itself wanted to structure things that way. this was a politically viable way to continue to funnel huge amounts of money into weapons development and research. its not unlikely that European dependence on the US was a bonus.

were the host countries in Europe pushing for US base deployments or was it really the US and its insane desire to land explosives anywhere in the world in 30 minutes or less and sustain two simulateous land conflicts.

none of this is that simple. were the Europeans happy to take the security and invest more in their civil societies? absolutely, but they eroded their own sovereignty by doing so and the US was more than happy to act like the big brother in control of the whole situation.

the US wanted worldwide military dominance and the dependence of its allies. it really quite weird to say its all their fault.