British Journal of Politics & International Relations
Chips and democracy: Analysing American support for military interventions
2025-07-29
This article investigates how democratic values and strategic interests shape American public support for military interventions abroad. Using two survey experiments conducted in different contexts of global computer chip supply, we evaluate the relative importance of the regime type of a target country and its semiconductor-manufacturing capability in shaping Americans’ willingness to support military intervention. Our findings indicate that, although the strategic importance of semiconductors is acknowledged, democratic values have a more consistent impact on public support for intervention. The influence of advanced chip production on American support for intervention depends on the global chip supply situation. During a severe chip shortage, a country’s advanced chip production significantly boosted support for intervention. However, this effect diminished when chip supply stabilised. While the study offers some support for the ‘silicon shield’ theory, the findings suggest that chip production alone may not consistently enhance a state’s security in the eyes of the American public. In addition, support for defending a country increases when it establishes advanced chip plants in the U.S., suggesting that public opinion may be driven by a blend of strategic considerations and normative expectations of fairness and partnership. By focusing on the relative effects of regime type and strategic resources, this study contributes to our understanding of how public opinion responds to foreign policy trade-offs.