U.S. Bases in the Philippines: The Evolution of the Special Relationship (review)

252 SAISREVIEW U.S. Bases in the Philippines: The Evolution ofthe Special Relationship. By William E. Berry, Jr. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1989. 340 pp. $32.50/paper. Reviewed by Joanna M. Pineda, M.A. Candidate, SAIS. With the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, Americans are re-evaluating American defense strategy and capabilities around the globe. Congress pushes for deep cuts in defense spending, while President Bush opposes major cuts and calls for a policy of prudence. Set against this backdrop are the negotiations over American bases in the Philippines. The Military Bases Agreement (MBA) expires in 1991, and negotiations between American and Philippine governments will determine the future of these bases. With the Soviet threat ostensibhly in decline even in Asia, one questions whether the bases still belong in the hemisphere. Yet this issue involves more than current American strategic goals. It touches on the special, historical relationship that has existed between the United States and the Philippines since 1898, when the United States acquired the Philippines from Spain. It calls into question the ability and will of the United States to live up to the terms of its security treaties with other nations; it challenges the notion of the United States as the dominant superpower in the region; and it pits Philippine demands for sovereignty over the bases against American needs for unhampered military control over base operations. William E. Berry's book is a thoughtful, historical account ofhow U.S. bases came to be located in the Philippines. Berry successfully combines technical information about the terms and nature of the MBA, details about Philippine domestic politics concerning the bases, and analysis of recurring points of contention between the United States and the Philippines. After World War II, Philippine leaders pushed to keep the United States in the Philippines for a variety of reasons: to obtain reconstruction assistance; to assure a more permanent relationship between the two countries, from which the Philippines would have much to gain; and to insure the security of the Philippines. The United States, however, was not entirely convinced of the strategic value ofthe bases in the Philippines, and indeed signed the MBA largely to maintain good relations with its former colony. During the 1950s with the rise of communist China, the intensification of the Cold War, and the outbreak of the Korean War, American commitment to the bases was immensely strengthened. After the America's withdrawal from Vietnam, the Nixon administration reiterated its commitment to the bases as an indication of America's intention to remain in Asia and meet its treaty obligations. ...