America Town: Building the Outposts of Empire (review)

Mark Gillem has produced a compelling study of the planning and execution of the American empire's diasporic communities the sprawling military bases that have mushroomed in response to the imperial reach of the United States. The intrusive nature of these military outposts, tempered by the occasional fitful desire to address the concerns of the host society, are in Gillem's mind, an incisive reflection of the more problematic aspects of the American empire. Much like the foreign policy that has engendered the presence of troops across the globe, the nation's America towns are introspective re-creations of problematic American social and political arrangements. The America towns of his study are auto-focused, segregated and imperiously oblivious to local surroundings; they are dominated by franchises and banally standardized. A fundamental addiction to sprawl has been exacerbated in recent years by fears of terrorism. Buffer zones surround variations of these Green Zones, all of which vacillate between obliviousness and ignorance in their inevitable clash with host societies. Avoidance rather than interaction is the most salient quality of these domineering outposts.

Goodwin begins his study with a survey of empires past, implying that despite periodic nods toward American exceptionalism, the American empire is mostly a modern version of prior practices. Gillem judiciously shares the blames for the pathological aspects of these outposts. Ambitious politicians, officious military commanders, as well the pervasive economic entities that have accompanied America's global reach in the civilian realm are all culpable in his mind. In fact, Gillem sees the malignant spread of such military outposts as a dialogue in which powerful forces in the host society willfully collaborate in the creation of these sprawling, wasteful enclaves. Occasionally there are erratic attempts to produce harmony with local mores and customs. But for the most part, America towns induce avoidance rather than interaction, extravagance rather than prudence. A variety of political and economic forces in host societies collude with, and profit off, these sprawling enclaves of America. Much like the dystopic exemplars of American suburbia, these military facsimiles have produced widespread environmental problems, crime, and blight, all of which are construed by host societies as affronts to local cultural mores. The sordid communities of camp followers that grow in the shadow of these outposts provide examples for some of the most troubling aspect of the uneven relationship between the military-suburban complex and its surroundings. It is here that power relations are expressed in a particularly unsavory gendered manner. Prostitution appears to be most the most sought-after commodity in the uneven exchange between host societies and American interlopers.

Goodwin's study vacillates between an academic inquest and a journalistic expose'. Some might find this vacillation between different genres to be a weakness. I personally find it to be the major strength of his work as it supplies multiple angles for understanding the cultural and political impact of these outposts of the American empire.