I don't think closing those bases would be in America's best interests, or the world's.
I mean when the next tsunami or earthquake occurs, and every country expects the U.S. military to come save them, well that would be difficult without any bases anywhere.
Even the UN is a good deal the U.S. military.
Also, historically, letting one's military slip out of power, especially the United States, is grounds for disaster.
I also think it is very important to not let all the equipment and machines grow too old, but to replace them when necessary.
For example, if you have a fleet of old Apache helicopters but see no real need for them, IMO still replace them. You never know.
During the 1990s, all the military TV shows, it was all "Battle tanks are obsolete, and are being replaced with a newer, lighter, more mobile vehicle for the 21st century," then we invade Iraq, and they immediately start falling back on tanks because they're the only things with armor heavy enough to withstand all the firepower.
They said the same thing about carriers too (obsolete, not needed, etc...).
Keep the military strong. It doesn't need to be capable of galactic, universal domination, but still capable to completely overwhelm the enemy, kick ass, and send out troops into combat with proper, modern equipment, in large enough numbers when necessary.
Historically, doing otherwise seems to bite America in the butt. We invented the machine gun, the assault rifle, the airplane, etc...yet the Germans and Russians in WWI and WWII were light years ahead of us in those weapons because we never developed them any further.
Even now, we were bit in the ass somewhat from the military downsizing of the 1990s. If we had more troops in the Army and Marines, Iraq would likely be easier. But after the Cold War they just kept shrinking and shrinking it because there would never be a "real" need for the military again (eyeroll).
