2017 Volume 68 Issue 2 Pages 2_13-2_35
The formal decisions over the use of military force by the UN Security Council are believed to transmit useful information to foreign domestic audience. Scholars claim that this transmitted information brings a higher foreign support for the UNSC approved use of force. While a variety of the macro-level evidence exists to support the argument, I argue that the most critical test has not been done yet at the micro-level by using an experimental research design. To fully study the causal mechanisms that generate the foreign public support for the UNSC approved military actions, the author conducted multiple survey experiments and identified why and when they significantly change their support for the military actions started by the United States. In this particular study, it turns out that veto with a surprise --- negative vote from friendly, allied permanent member (i.e. UK and France) --- generates more information to the general public and thus changes their attitudes.