The Geopolitics of U.S. Overseas Troops and Withdrawal

“A theoretically rich and empirically detailed account of the persistence of the overseas U.S. military presence, The Geopolitics of U.S. Troops and Withdrawal is an extremely important and timely work.”
– Sebastian Schmidt, Johns Hopkins University, USA

“Jakobsen has created an essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the enduring nature of US overseas deployments.”

– Michael A. Allen, Boise State University, USA

“The Geopolitics of US Overseas Troops and Withdrawal is a timely and important book.”

– Jeffrey W. Taliaferro, Tufts University

“Jo Jakobsen provides a powerful argument for why US leaders find it difficult to undertake meaningful retrenchment.”

– Peter Harris, Colorado State University, USA

“This fresh perspective on American foreign policy is as timely as it is poignant. Jakobsen’s thoughtful theoretical treatment and careful empirical analysis offer a compelling explanation for why US foreign policy seems to remain the same, despite the changes in leaders and their goals.”

– Mark David Nieman, University of Toronto, Canada

Why is it so difficult for a great power or a hegemon to retrench? More specifically, why are U.S. military bases and troops still largely where they have been for generations? This book offers an explanation. It argues that the murkiness of the anarchic international system combines with specific psychological inclinations of individuals to produce “better-safe-than-sorry” policies. Members of the U.S. foreign-policy community overwhelmingly prefer the status quo over any uncertain alternative, and they want their country to continue to maximize its influence and project its military force abroad in order to steady wobbling, though inherently hypothetical, geopolitical “dominoes.” The theory is put to the empirical test through an elaborate analysis of U.S. overseas troop deployments, withdrawal attempts, and retrenchment resistance from 2017 through 2021. Even if U.S. voters elected a retrenchment advocate – Donald Trump – as president, and despite that the United States is a gradually declining power, the period saw very little change in U.S. overseas troop deployment.

Jo Jakobsen is professor at the Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim.