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Understanding the Status of Forces Agreement

Understanding the Status of Forces Agreement

 

A Status of Forces Agreement is
not any particular treaty, but is instead a type of treaty which might be
employed in order to help address the relationship between two different
countries in terms of the armed forces of those countries. A Status of Forces
Agreement sets out the terms between a host country and another nation whose
forces might be remaining within the host country for some purpose.

The Status of Forces Agreement
would, for example, set out the rights and responsibilities afforded to the
military troops of the foreign country within the host country, such that the
status of these troops is understood with regard to international politics. The
Status of Forces Agreement would not dictate the exact terms of the agreement
by which military forces are stationed within the host country, however. It
would instead only establish the nature of the status that those military
forces might have within the host country.

The United States has a great
many different instances of a Status of Forces Agreement, as it must have one
Status of Forces Agreement for every country in which it has stationed a
significant military presence. This means that the United States has a Status
of Forces Agreement for states including the United Kingdom, Russia, South
Korea, and France, as well as for other nations where the American military
presence might be considered more integral, such as Iraq or Afghanistan. The
different Status of Forces Agreements are specifically designed to dictate the
legal rules regarding the nature of these military forces in a foreign country.