Outside the Wire: US Military Deployments and Public Opinion in Host States

Abstract

How do citizens within countries hosting U.S. military personnel view that presence? Most studies on this issue rely on aggregated data on public attitudes towards the U.S., or on anecdotal accounts of high-profile crimes or other incidents involving U.S. military personnel. Using new cross-national survey data from 14 countries, we examine how different forms of exposure to a U.S. military presence in a country affect attitudes towards the U.S. military, government, and people. Notably, these surveys provide nationally representative samples across traditional covariates like age, income, and gender. We find that contact with U.S. military personnel or the receipt of economic benefits from the U.S. presence increases support for the U.S. presence, people, and government. This study has profound implications for the role that U.S. installations play in affecting the social fabric of host nations, along with policy implications for the conduct of U.S. military activities outside the United States.