Democratization and Alliance Commitment

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the effects of democratic transition on alliance commitment, focusing on political leaders’ types and civil–military relations. This work expects to find that democratizers are more likely to be faithful to their existing alliance partner when their political leaders are old elites who are reluctant to initiate drastic domestic reforms and when their political leaders try to reduce military’s influence on domestic affairs. By tracing the process of three US allies’ participation (or nonparticipation) in the US-led multinational coalition against Iraq during the Persian Gulf War period, this study explores whether and how the domestic conditions affect alliance policies. The case studies on South Korea, Turkey, and the Philippines provide some support for the nexus approach which links domestic circumstances to foreign conditions.