Alliance

Allies Day, May 1917, National Gallery of Art Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery decorates Soviet Marshals and generals at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, 12 July 1945.

An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called allies. Alliances form in many settings, including political alliances, military alliances, and business alliances. When the term is used in the context of war or armed struggle, such associations may also be called allied powers, especially when discussing World War I or World War II.

A formal military alliance is not required for being perceived as an ally—co-belligerence, fighting alongside someone, is enough. According to this usage, allies become so not when concluding an alliance treaty but when struck by war.

When spelled with a capital "A", "Allies" usually denotes the countries who fought together against the Central Powers in World War I (the Allies of World War I), or those who fought against the Axis Powers in World War II (the Allies of World War II). The term has also been used by the United States Army to describe the countries that gave assistance to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

The Allied Powers in World War I (also known as the Entente Powers) were initially the United Kingdom, France, the Russian Empire, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro and Japan, joined later by Italy, Portugal, Romania, the United States, Greece and Brazil. Some, such as the Russian Empire, withdrew from the war before the armistice due to revolution or defeat.

After the end of World War II and during the Cold War, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed as a political and military alliance that promotes anti-communist values.

More recently, the term "Allied forces" has also been used to describe the coalition of the Gulf War, as opposed to forces the Multi-National Forces in Iraq which are commonly referred to as "Coalition forces" or, as by the George W. Bush administration, "the coalition of the willing".

Effects

Scholars are divided as to the impact of alliances. Several studies find that defensive alliances deter conflict. One study questions these findings, showing that alliance commitments deterred conflict in the prenuclear era but has no statistically meaningful impact on war in the postnuclear era. Another study finds that while alliance commitments deter conflict between sides with a recent history of conflict, alliances tend to provoke conflicts between states without such a history.

A 2000 study in the Journal of Conflict Resolution found that allies fulfill their alliance commitments approximately 75% of the time. Most research suggests that democracies are more reliable allies than non-democracies. A 2004 study did however question whether alliance commitments by democracies are more durable. A 2018 study updated and extended the data from the 2000 Journal of Conflict Resolution study and found that allies only fulfill their commitments about 50% of the time from 1816 to 2003. According to the study, "States honored their alliance commitments 66% of the time prior to 1945 but the compliance rate drops to 22% from 1945 to 2003. Moreover, the rates of fulfillment for defense pacts (41%) and nonaggression pacts (37%) are dramatically lower than offensive alliances (74%) and neutrality agreements (78%)."

One of the most profound effects of alliances can be seen in technological innovation, due to conduits of knowledge flows that are open between allies but closed between rivals.

International opinion

Map indicating international preferences for principal ally in the case a country were attacked, as of 2017.

According to a 2017 poll by WIN/GIA, the United States was the most preferred ally internationally. Russia and China, who preferred one another, both trailed America globally. Four countries, Bulgaria, Greece, Slovenia and Turkey, preferred Russia, despite being members of NATO.

In Pakistan, 72% of respondents preferred ties to China, the largest margin of any country surveyed, while 46% of Bangladesh preferred India. A total of 22 countries indicated a preference for the United Kingdom at a rate of 10% or more, but the United States was the only country to prefer Britain over any other, at a rate of 43%. Five countries preferred France at a rate of 10% or more, led by Belgium at a rate of 25%. A single country, Iraq, expressed no preference, while three other countries, Lebanon, Palestine, and Slovenia, expressed no preference at a rate of 11% or more, although at a smaller rate than their preference for Russia on the part of Lebanon and Slovenia, and China on the part of Palestine. Kosovo reported the most unified opinion, preferring the United States at a rate of 92%, while Russia's most unified supporters were Mongolia (71%), Armenia (67%) and Serbia (56%). In total, 21 countries expressed a preference for America at a rate of 50% or more.

Results of 2017 poll by WIN/GIA.
Most preferred ally in case of military threat
figures of United States lower than 30%, Russia (<14%), of United Kingdom (<10%), France (<6%), none (<12%) and China (<10%) may be hidden
Country polled Russia United States United Kingdom China India France none
 Mongolia 71%
 Armenia 67%
 Serbia 56% 16%
 Greece 48%
 China 47%
 Bulgaria 42% 17% 4%
 Ukraine 33% 35% 11%
 Slovenia 30% 8% 15%
 Latvia 27% 11% 14%
 Lebanon 25% 15% 23%
 Turkey 23% 9% 31%
 North Macedonia 23% 33% 17%
 Mexico 22% 42% 11% 9%
 Peru 21% 44% 14%
 Iran 20% 30%
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 19% 12% 43%
 Vietnam 18%
 India 16% 50%
 Finland 15% 37% 16%
 Romania 15% 51% 7%
 South Africa 15% 45% 21%
 Albania 14% 66% 10%
 Kosovo 92%
 South Korea 49% 10% 32%
 Papua New Guinea 70% 13%
 Israel 68% 10%
 Philippines 67% 16%
 Japan 64%
 Canada 62% 12%
 Ghana 62% 10%
 United Kingdom 58% 8%
 Ecuador 58%
 Lithuania 58% 10%
 Paraguay 57%
 Brazil 55% 10%
 France 54% 13%
 Spain 52% 12%
 Denmark 52% 23%
 Fiji 52% 15% 12%
 Norway 51% 23%
 Australia 49% 16%
 Poland 49% 10%
 Germany 41% 19%
 Italy 41% 11%
 Nigeria 41%
 Portugal 40% 21%
 Afghanistan 39% 22% 17%
 Iceland 38% 27%
 Thailand 38% 11% 29%
 Argentina 36% 13% 22%
 Ireland 34% 25%
 Indonesia 32% 10% 21%
 Czech Republic 32% 15% 6%
 Sweden 31% 29% 6%
 Estonia 31% 16%
 Belgium 30% 12% 25%
 Austria 16%
 DR Congo 16% 8%
 Palestine 17% 8% 12%
 United States 43% 7%
 Iraq 6% 27%
 Pakistan 72%
 Bangladesh 16% 46%
 Russia 44% 4%

See also

References

  1. ^ "Define Alliance". Dictionary.com.
  2. ^ Larsen, Stanley; Collins, James (1975). Allied Participation in Vietnam. Vietnam Studies. Washington, D.C.: Department of the Army. OCLC 1119579. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved January 15, 2013.
  3. ^ "What is NATO?". NATO.
  4. ^ Fang, Songying; Johnson, Jesse C.; Leeds, Brett Ashley (2014-10-01). "To Concede or to Resist? The Restraining Effect of Military Alliances". International Organization. 68 (4): 775–809. doi:10.1017/S0020818314000137. ISSN 0020-8183. S2CID 49250140.
  5. ^ Leeds, Brett Ashley; Johnson, Jesse C. (2016-11-10). "Theory, Data, and Deterrence: A Response to Kenwick, Vasquez, and Powers". The Journal of Politics. 79: 335–340. doi:10.1086/687285. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 55385304.
  6. ^ Johnson, Jesse C.; Leeds, Brett Ashley (2011-01-01). "Defense Pacts: A Prescription for Peace?1". Foreign Policy Analysis. 7 (1): 45–65. doi:10.1111/j.1743-8594.2010.00122.x. ISSN 1743-8594.
  7. ^ Leeds, Brett Ashley (2003-07-01). "Do Alliances Deter Aggression? The Influence of Military Alliances on the Initiation of Militarized Interstate Disputes". American Journal of Political Science. 47 (3): 427–439. doi:10.1111/1540-5907.00031. ISSN 1540-5907.
  8. ^ Kenwick, Michael R.; Vasquez, John A.; Powers, Matthew A. (2015-10-01). "Do Alliances Really Deter?". The Journal of Politics. 77 (4): 943–954. doi:10.1086/681958. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 9921552.
  9. ^ Kenwick, Michael R.; Vasquez, John A. (2016-11-10). "Defense Pacts and Deterrence: Caveat Emptor". The Journal of Politics. 79: 329–334. doi:10.1086/686700. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 157263860.
  10. ^ Morrow, James D. (2016-11-10). "When Do Defensive Alliances Provoke Rather than Deter?". The Journal of Politics. 79: 341–345. doi:10.1086/686973. ISSN 0022-3816. S2CID 157788422.
  11. ^ Leeds, Brett Ashley (2003-01-01). "Alliance Reliability in Times of War: Explaining State Decisions to Violate Treaties". International Organization. 57 (4): 801–827. doi:10.1017/s0020818303574057. JSTOR 3594847. S2CID 154260997.
  12. ^ "Analysis | Allies can't rely on America like they used to. And not just because of Trump". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-31.
  13. ^ Gaubatz, Kurt Taylor (1996-01-01). "Democratic states and commitment in international relations". International Organization. 50 (1): 109–139. doi:10.1017/S0020818300001685. ISSN 1531-5088. S2CID 154562172.
  14. ^ Leeds, Brett Ashley; Mattes, Michaela; Vogel, Jeremy S. (2009-04-01). "Interests, Institutions, and the Reliability of International Commitments". American Journal of Political Science. 53 (2): 461–476. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00381.x. ISSN 1540-5907.
  15. ^ Gartzke, Erik; Gleditsch, Kristian Skrede (2004-10-01). "Why Democracies May Actually Be Less Reliable Allies". American Journal of Political Science. 48 (4): 775–795. doi:10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00101.x. ISSN 1540-5907.
  16. ^ a b Berkemeier, Molly; Fuhrmann, Matthew (2018). "Reassessing the fulfillment of alliance commitments in war". Research & Politics. 5 (2): 205316801877969. doi:10.1177/2053168018779697.
  17. ^ Schmid, Jon; Brummer, Matthew; Taylor, Mark Zachary (2017). "Innovation and Alliances". Review of Policy Research. 34 (5): 588–616. doi:10.1111/ropr.12244. ISSN 1541-1338.
  18. ^ a b c "Four NATO Nations Would Pick Russia to Defend Them If Threatened". Bloomberg.com. 17 February 2017.
  19. ^ "42% от българите искат Русия да ги защитава, 17% - САЩ". www.24chasa.bg.

Bibliography

External links

Look up Alliance in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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