David Vine: Island of Shame, Islands of Hope: U.S. Military Bases Overseas and Anti-Base Resistance

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC | At the isolated center of the Indian Ocean lies a large and secretive U.S. military base on the island Diego Garcia. While few know about the base, even fewer know that its creation involved the expulsion of the island’s indigenous Chagossian people. David Vine will discuss the history of the base on Diego Garcia, the Chagossian exile, and the people’s 50-year-old struggle to return to their homeland. David will frame this little-known story in the context of the global network of 800 U.S. military bases overseas and the scores of anti-base movements challenging foreign bases worldwide.

David Vine is Professor of Anthropology at American University in Washington, DC. David is the author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World (Henry Holt, 2015) and Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia (Princeton University Press, 2009). David has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, and Mother Jones, among others.