Theory
Our theory is built upon a long-held belief about "tyranny of distance", which implies that geographical barriers can exert a critical influence on a country's strategic assessment of threats and goals. While technological advancements have alleviated geographical barriers, geographical distance, as an impediment of power projection, still remains insurmountable. Given this premise, the conventional Loss of Strength Gradient (LSG) idea provides the starting point of our theory. Boulding (1962) asserts that fighting is more costly far from home, and a country’s military strength becomes weaker as the distance from its home country increases. Boulding’s LSG framework also implies that a defender’s strategic interests in extended deterrence …show more content…
For example, explaining the logic behind the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Peinhardt and Sandler (2015, 111) argue that “The United States faced a strategic disadvantage in its geographic distance from Europe – the Soviets could easily mount a massive conventional attack without time for the United States to mobilize.” Similarly, Sandler (1999, 740) demonstrates that “noncontiguous NATO members, especially those allies either separated by a large distance or bordering an enemy, are at a decided bargaining disadvantage, leaving them no choice but to assume larger defense burdens relative to other allies.” An additional example would be the geographical obstacles to the deterrent efforts of the United States against Chinese aggressive moves in Asia. In spite of the U.S. military dominance over China, the United States has significant geographical disadvantages in conducting military maneuvers in Asia: for example, long-distance military operations cause relatively limited capabilities of defending air bases, operating long-range radar systems, and deploying troops from distant bases (Heginbotham and Heim
Our theory is built upon a long-held belief about "tyranny of distance", which implies that geographical barriers can exert a critical influence on a country's strategic assessment of threats and goals. While technological advancements have alleviated geographical barriers, geographical distance, as an impediment of power projection, still remains insurmountable. Given this premise, the conventional Loss of Strength Gradient (LSG) idea provides the starting point of our theory. Boulding (1962) asserts that fighting is more costly far from home, and a country’s military strength becomes weaker as the distance from its home country increases. Boulding’s LSG framework also implies that a defender’s strategic interests in extended deterrence …show more content…
For example, explaining the logic behind the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Peinhardt and Sandler (2015, 111) argue that “The United States faced a strategic disadvantage in its geographic distance from Europe – the Soviets could easily mount a massive conventional attack without time for the United States to mobilize.” Similarly, Sandler (1999, 740) demonstrates that “noncontiguous NATO members, especially those allies either separated by a large distance or bordering an enemy, are at a decided bargaining disadvantage, leaving them no choice but to assume larger defense burdens relative to other allies.” An additional example would be the geographical obstacles to the deterrent efforts of the United States against Chinese aggressive moves in Asia. In spite of the U.S. military dominance over China, the United States has significant geographical disadvantages in conducting military maneuvers in Asia: for example, long-distance military operations cause relatively limited capabilities of defending air bases, operating long-range radar systems, and deploying troops from distant bases (Heginbotham and Heim