Activists, Alliances, and Anti-U.S. Base Protests

Examines the impact of anti-base movements on base politics and the role bilateral alliance relationships play in shaping movement outcomes.

Andrew Yeo (Author)

9780521175562, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 June 2011

240 pages, 22 b/w illus. 1 map 5 tables
23.7 x 15.7 x 1.4 cm, 0.35 kg

“Andrew Yeo shows that the politics of military force is more about politics than force. The local and transnational politics of US foreign military bases will be critical in both international and domestic politics. The United States still maintains hundreds of overseas bases at great cost. It’s not surprising that they often provoke intense opposition; anti-base activists, Yeo shows, do best when they are able to exploit rifts in the elite security consensus. Both supporters and opponents will want to read this book to understand how to be more effective. And everyone else will benefit from seeing how American security interests develop at the intersection of movement politics and international relations.”
– David S. Meyer, University of California, Irvine

Anti-U.S. base protests, played out in parliaments and the streets of host nations, continue to arise in different parts of the world. In a novel approach, this book examines the impact of anti-base movements and the important role bilateral alliance relationships play in shaping movement outcomes. The author explains not only when and how anti-base movements matter, but also how host governments balance between domestic and international pressure on base-related issues. Drawing on interviews with activists, politicians, policy makers and U.S. base officials in the Philippines, Japan (Okinawa), Ecuador, Italy and South Korea, the author finds that the security and foreign policy ideas held by host government elites act as a political opportunity or barrier for anti-base movements, influencing their ability to challenge overseas U.S. basing policies.

1. Activists, alliances and the politics of overseas U.S. bases
2. Anti-base movements and the security consensus framework
3. Under a weak security consensus: Philippine anti-base movements, 1990–1991
4. The U.S.-Japan alliance and anti-base movements in Okinawa, 1995–1996
5. Anti-base movements in Ecuador and Italy
6. South Korean anti-base movements and the resilience of the security consensus
7. Alliance relations and the security consensus across time
8. Activists, alliances and the future of U.S. basing strategy.

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Demonstrations & protest movements [JPWF], Diplomacy [JPSD], International relations [JPS]