One of the hallmarks of a state’s great-power status is having a network of military bases spread across the world. During the Cold War, the USSR tried to compete with the United States in this respect. After its collapse, a multi-year process began of dismantling troops stationed outside Russia. But in some countries, they still remain. Empires rose and fell, and new ones took their place. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, a classic example of such an empire was Great Britain. It