Replication data for: Going the Distance: The Price of Projecting Power

The central purpose of this paper is to establish the relationship between power projection, technology and economic power. How economically powerful does a state need to be before it can afford the capital intensive technologies, foreign bases and military and logistical forces associated with global power projection? The specific research question we focus on in this paper is what determines how far states send their military forces? We argue that as the costs associated with projecting power decrease or as the wealth necessary to project power increases states will project power more frequently and at greater distances. We use a system level time series analysis from 1869-1936 and a dispute level test on all MIDs from 1870-2000 to test these propositions. This paper is the first to demonstrate empirically that the distance and frequency of power projection is a function of the cost of projecting power. We close with a discussion of contemporary states building power projection capabilities and how future research might build from our research to explain this behavior.