This study intends to check how the withdrawal of extended deterrence assets affects the security of the protege state through statistical methods and case studies. Since the Cold War, great powers, led by the United States and the Soviet Union, regar...
This study intends to check how the withdrawal of extended deterrence assets affects the security of the protege state through statistical methods and case studies. Since the Cold War, great powers, led by the United States and the Soviet Union, regard the security of their allies as their national interests and try to deter the threat or attack of hostile forces through various means such as deploying nuclear weapons, stationing troops, and forming alliances. Today, 30 years after the end of the Cold War, the international security environment has improved significantly, and the United States and other great powers are showing a tendency to reduce their reach all over the world. The key questions of this study are as follows. “Does the security situation of the protege state deteriorate when the patron state withdraws its extended deterrence assets from the protege state?” More specifically, “Does the withdrawal of extended deterrence assets weaken the effect of extended deterrence, therefore increasing the likelihood of a military attack on the protege state?”
This study selects extended deterrence assets into three types: alliance treaties, nuclear weapons, and garrisoned forces (US forces), and argues that the withdrawal of different extended deterrence assets has different effects on the security situation of the protege state. Three hypotheses are derived from this argument. (1) If the alliance treaty is terminated, the security situation of the protege state is highly likely to deteriorate. (2) If the nuclear weapons deployed in the protege state are withdrawn, the security situation of the protege state is likely to deteriorate. (3) If U.S. forces stationed in the protege state are withdrawn, the security situation of the protege state is likely to deteriorate.
This study shows the effect of the withdrawal of extended deterrence assets on the security situation of the protege state through statistical methods using extended deterrence assets data and military conflict data, and case study regarding the withdrawal of US assets from South Korea. Statistical analysis is considered as the main research method of this study to verify the claims by the type of extended deterrence asset. Statistical analysis confirmed that the withdrawal of different extended deterrence assets has different impacts on the security situation of the protege state. The withdrawal of US troops and nuclear weapons do not necessarily worsen the security situation of the protege state.
To supplement the statistical analysis results, the South Korea case is analyzed to understand the effect of U.S. assets withdrawal on South Korea's security situation. The results of the case study support the results of statistical analysis. The full withdrawal of U.S. troops in 1948-49 did result in the Korean War. However, after the sign of the ROK-U.S. defense alliance, the withdrawal of US forces or nuclear weapons did not lead to the worsening security situation in South Korea. For example, in 1970, the United States withdrew 20000 U.S. military forces and moved the 2nd Infantry Division to the rear area, which greatly weakened the role of the U.S. forces as tripwire when North Korea attacked. However, if we look at the frequency and hostilities of military attacks that South Korea faced, the security situation of South Korea has not deteriorated after the reduction of US forces.