Abstract
This chapter focuses specifically on key cases of proposed withdrawal during the Trump presidency. In particular, I scrutinize the impact of the rationales and narratives that emerge whenever a troop withdrawal is proposed. Evidence shows that every such case of attempted retrenchment is quickly beset by loud and heavy resistance from the U.S. foreign-policy community. The chapter analyzes such processes and tensions through five main sections, organized by regions. I start with Africa. Thereafter, I analyze developments in the Middle East, where I pay special attention to the Trump administration’s largely aborted attempts to withdraw troops from Syria. The third main section deals with Afghanistan, certainly the most notorious case of attempted withdrawal. The fourth main section focuses on developments in Europe, paying due attention to the controversial case of Germany. Finally, the chapter investigates developments in Asia–Pacific. Even if President Trump threatened withdrawal on several occasions, the upshot of four years of Trump was here quite the opposite: U.S. troop numbers rose considerably in the period. With respect to Asia–Pacific, even self-avowed Leavers tend to be Stayers.
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Jakobsen, J. (2022). Regional Domino Narratives and the Geopolitics of Withdrawal. In: The Geopolitics of U.S. Overseas Troops and Withdrawal. Palgrave Studies in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94488-9_7
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