After Afghanistan, US military presence abroad faces domestic and foreign opposition in 2022

WASHINGTON (Agencies): In August 2021, the US military withdrew from Afghanistan after fighting a war there for nearly 20 years. In addition to Afghanistan, the US has reduced its military presence in several other conflict zones in recent years. It has lowered troop levels in Iraq from 170,000 in 2007 to 2,500 in 2021, and in Syria from 1,700 in 2018 to around 900 today. While these reductions may seem like a US military withdrawal from the world stage, its presence overseas remains vast. As political scientists, we examine the costs, benefits and perceptions of US military deployments abroad. Our…