Strategic partnerships in alliance politics: Introducing the Global Strategic Partnership dataset

Since the 1990s, strategic partnerships have emerged as a new foreign policy tool that allows more flexibility in international cooperation. This paper distinguishes strategic partnerships from alliances and alignments by introducing the Global Strategic Partnership dataset. In addition to presenting the trends in their global proliferation, we examine the patterns of strategic partnerships in the top six countries with the most partnership agreements. We find that the United States significantly increases trade and arms transfers with its non-allied partners compared with its allied partners, suggesting that strategic partnerships can enhance economic and security cooperation in ways that complement traditional alliances.