Anti-American Military Influence

Introduction Does American military presence abroad lead to an increase in anti-american sentiment? This paper will discuss this theory and propose an experimental research design to test it in the real world.
Substantive Significance The substantive importance of this question lies in its relevance to the making of American foreign policy. While the United States remains the world’s preeminent power, international relations are becoming increasingly multipolar. The United States must work in cooperation with its allies to achieve its international goals. However, cooperation implies willingness on the part of the other country, and if feelings of anti-american sentiment materialize, cooperation will become politically difficult for both governments. If excessive military presence is found to reduce the popular opinion of the United States abroad, then this may …show more content…
Given the theory that the number of American troops deployed increases anti-american sentiment, there is a possibility of reverse causality. It is plausible to assume that high levels of anti-american sentiment might attract the deployment of troops to the region as a way to maintain order. However, the reverse is also plausible. A region with high levels of anti-american sentiment might be perceived as too dangerous and thus for the safety of the individual troops, they are withdrawn from the region. Nonetheless, the research design as proposed above cannot necessarily control for these factors. Rather, the findings of the research ought to be taken in light of this information. Moreover, the specifics of the hypothesis seem to mitigate the possibility of such reverse causality. The survey is to be conducted in Japan, and while research may discover feelings of resentment towards the American military stationed there, these feelings are not likely to be so strong as to warrant