| Popis: |
This research explains the variations in foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. It examines the effect of national capabilities, economic interdependence, memberships in intergovernmental organizations, political freedom, and the spatial relationships among nations on their diplomatic presence in the U.S. from 1980 to 2000. The number of diplomatic personnel one nation sent to the U.S. is taken as the proxy measurement for the diplomatic interaction between the two nations. Spatial relationships are decomposed into three measures: spatial proximity measured as distance, spatial dependence measured as the neighborhood effect, and spatial heterogeneity measured as regional effect. Foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. presents a significant spatial effect. Three groups of spatial models—power-based models, interdependence-based models, and the combined models—are developed based on the propositions of realism and liberalism. The power-based ordinary least squares (OLS) model presents significant spatial dependence in the regression residuals since 1993, the interdependence-based OLS model since 1989, and the combined OLS model since 1993. Spatial lag models and spatial error models are then proposed to explain the variations in foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. The spatial error models can explain the spatial effect in the dependent variable. It is found that variations in the foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. are a function of national capabilities, economic interdependence, intergovernmental organizations membership, political freedom, and spatial relationships. National capabilities of U.S. diplomatic partners and the economic interdependence between the U.S. and its diplomatic partners are the two most important determinants for the variations in foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. However, the effect of economic interdependence is directional. The three components of the international spatial relationships have varying degrees of effect on foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S.: the effect of spatial proximity is statistically insignificant; the effect of spatial heterogeneity is not constant over time and over regions; spatial dependence is the most important source of the spatial effect in the foreign diplomatic presence in the U.S. This research highlights the importance of space to international diplomatic relations among nations. |
