Abstract

HERRERA SANTANA, David. The Withdrawal of United States Troops Worldwide: Relative Decline, Strategic Readjustments, and Operational Unilateralism in the 21st Century. rev.relac.int.estrateg.segur. [online]. 2021, vol.16, n.2, pp.97-120.  Epub Dec 31, 2021. ISSN 1909-3063.  https://doi.org/10.18359/ries.4933.

In recent decades there has been a decrease in US troops deployed globally. Some analyses link this trend to a loss of military capabilities and a decline in US hegemony. However, we consider the enormous complexity of three processes that impact the withdrawal logic. First, the change in the operational logic towards action unilateralism tends to free the United States military action from political, diplomatic, and social constraints. Second, a series of post-Fordist readjustments in the military field resulting from the restructuring after the 1970s economic crisis is accompanied by various innovations derived from the technological advances in the last decades, specifically drones. Third, there is growing resistance to the military presence of the United States in various territories fundamental for the American world projection. Therefore, while it responds to a relative decline, withdrawal is also a sign of a different form of deployment and a transformed offensive logic for the 21st-century conflict.

Keywords : Troop withdrawal; operational unilateralism; relative decline; strategic readjustments; offensive logic.

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