The Diverse Foundations of American Global Power

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

The United States occupies a unique position in world politics due in large part to its significant military and economic capabilities. Simple preponderance and the structural explanations that build on such aggregate measures of power, however, tell us little about how and whether the United States is successful in exerting influence in international politics. Rather, preponderance is important more for the variety of means that it enables with which the United States might exercise influence. The papers in this panel take a close look at several important dimensions of this influence, including: the ability to realize influence through military and civilian training and exchange programs, the global intelligence infrastructure the US established during the Cold War and the political liabilities that accompanied it, public perceptions of the U.S. military presence in foreign countries, and the proliferation of multinational military exercises between the United States and its security partners. Through these papers, the panel hopes to build a better understanding of the specific pathways, opportunities, and limits of American influence in contemporary international politics. Taken together – and in contrast to more abstract analyses – they provide a detailed study of the concrete foundations and potential future dynamics of the international security order.

Sub Unit

• Division 19: International Security 

Individual Presentations

• Comparative Perceptions of U.S. and Chinese Military Presences in Kenya - Michael A. Allen, Boise State University; Brian Blankenship, University of Miami; Michael E. Flynn, Kansas State University; Renanah M. Joyce, Georgetown University; Carla Martinez Machain, University at Buffalo

• International Military Experience, Human Capital, and Domestic Political Success - Jonathan D. Caverley, Naval War College; Jesse Dillon-Savage, Trinity College Dublin; Renanah M. Joyce, Georgetown University

• Security Force Assistance and Military Effectiveness in Ukraine - Alexandra Chinchilla, Texas A&M, Bush School of Govt and Public Service

• The Infrastructure of American Global Intelligence in the Cold War - Austin Carson, University of Chicago

• Multinational Military Exercises and Security Cooperation in the American Order - Sebastian M. Schmidt, Johns Hopkins University

Chair

• Brian Blankenship University of Miami

Discussants

• Renanah M. Joyce Georgetown University

• Sebastian M. Schmidt Johns Hopkins University