Alliances have long been a core topic in the study and practice of international security, and much scholarship has focused on the drivers and dynamics of the US hub-and-spokes system of bilateral alliances in Asia. How, if at all, are alliances interdependent? In his new book, Iain D. Henry answers this question by proposing an “audience alliance effect theory” consisting of three hypotheses. First, he argues that US allies monitor Washington's actions toward its other allies and that their observations influence their perception of US reliability. Second, he argues that if allies judge the United States to be unreliable, they will act to improve their own level of security. Third, he expects that this prospect of alliance interdependence will affect US policy by enabling Washington to set the example of acceptable allied behavior in one alliance to influence other alliances.
Drawing on tens of thousands of documents and process tracing...
