Jonathan Chu

What explains people’s support for providing military assistance to an allied country? Support for allies often becomes a contentious issue in domestic politics, hindering states from fulfilling their commitment to an alliance partner. Understanding how leaders can effectively manage public opinion regarding alliance support is thus of great importance in alliance resilience. In particular, we investigate the effect of formal alliances, common identity, and changing strategic conditions on public willingness to support a military ally. For evidence, we conduct a pair of survey experiments in China and the United States on a scenario about the Korean Peninsula. This study will shed new light on how states can manage its domestic support for an ally and deepen our understanding of the source of alliance resilience.

When considering military humanitarian intervention, the United States and other western countries virtually always seek the approval of international organizations (IOs). Countries do so, in part, in order to mobilize support among their citizens back home. Using original American public opinion data, this project examines the differing effects of the UN Security Council and NATO on public attitudes toward intervention. It asks both whether and how these two IOs move public attitudes. Finally, this project not only sheds light on the relationship between IOs and the public, but also the relationship between the Security Council and NATO: insofar as Security Council and NATO support are substitutes, countries belonging to both can leverage their multiple options when bargaining for IO support.