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Carl Graham /

Military Coalitions, Explained

Why the United States engages in them, what their advantages are, and what their disadvantages are.
U.S., Turkey conduct third combined joint patrol in Syria
In this handout provided by the U.S. Army, U.S. and Turkish military forces conduct combined joint patrol in northeast Syria, on October 4, 2019. (Photo by Andrew Goedl/U.S. Army via Getty Images)

In recent weeks U.S. forces made multiple airstrikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen in an effort to stop their disruption of commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

But the U.S. hasn’t done that work alone—it’s had the help of the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, and several other countries in carrying out those strikes.

Carl Graham is a retired naval flight officer living with his wife and cow dog in Bozeman, Montana.

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