Tripwires and free-riders: Do forward-deployed U.S. troops reduce the willingness of host-country citizens to fight for their country?

This article investigates the relationship between U.S. overseas troops and the willingness of the citizens of host states to fight for their country. The study joins the long-running debate about burden-sharing and free-riding among U.S. allies. Unlike most previous empirical studies, we focus on non-material or intangible measures of the underlying concepts. Our dependent variable estimates the proportion of citizens expressing a willingness to fight for their country. Scores at the aggregate-national as well as the individual level are shaped by the presence of U.S. military forces, which act as a “tripwire” signaling credible security commitments. This increases opportunities of (non-material) free-riding. We present both bivariate and multivariate analyses covering the period 1981–2014 to test this supposition. Findings indicate that once U.S. troop levels reach a certain threshold (between 100 and 500 troops), citizens’ willingness to fight drops significantly. This likely reflects non-material free-riding.     

基于可拓方法的炮兵作战指挥训练手段运用效果评价

为评价炮兵作战指挥训练手段运用效果,在分析影响炮兵作战指挥训练手段运用效果因素的基础上,应用可拓方法建立了炮兵作战指挥训练手段运用效果多指标参数的物元可拓评估模型,以定量评估结果对炮兵作战指挥训练手段运用效果进行了评价分级,并与层次分析法和模糊综合评判法的评估结果进行了比较,结论基本一致。其评估结果可为发展信息化炮兵作战指挥训练手段提供依据。