Deep engagement and public opinion toward the United States: U.S. military presence and threat perceptions*.

This article examines the conditions under which residents of various countries express favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward the United States, focusing on the impact of the U.S. military presence and individuals' threat perceptions of global actors that the U.S. government actively confronts as security threats. Using survey data from 38 countries collected in 2017 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Survey, the study finds that a larger U.S. military presence in a country correlates with more negative attitudes toward the United States. However, individuals who perceive threats from certain global actors targeted by U.S. security policies—such as ISIS and North Korea—are less likely to hold negative views, especially in countries with substantial U.S. military deployments. Conversely, threat perceptions of major powers like Russia and China are associated with increased negative attitudes toward the United States, suggesting complex dynamics influenced by the nature of the threat. The findings highlight how U.S. deep engagement abroad can produce socio-political cleavages within host countries and underscore the importance of considering both the scale of U.S. military presence and local threat perceptions in understanding global public opinion toward the United States.