Content Type: Journal Article / Publishing Institution: ARI Movement / Political Geography: Turkey / Topic: Diplomacy

Author:: Mevlut Cavusoglu
Publication Date:: 06-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: ARI Movement
Abstract:: The Middle East is blessed with a rich heritage, is the birthplace of world’s three great monotheistic religions, and has contributed a great deal to humankind’s scientific, philosophical, and cultural progress throughout history. However, for those of us who grew up in the second half of the 20th century and who witnessed the recent devastation and human suffering in the region, the Middle East is mostly associated with crisis, conflict, and turmoil. Most of the tensions we are witnessing today in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) originated in the popular uprisings for freedom, dignity and prosperity that began four years ago. Despite some setbacks, the Arab Spring has in fact shown us that the potential for change and progress inherently exists in the region. The inspiring determination of the masses to take their destiny into their own hands constituted the best answer to Orientalist views, which claimed that the region and its people were doomed to lead lives of deprivation under authoritarian rule.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and Military Strategy
Political Geography:: Europe, Turkey, and Asia

Author:: Sabri Sayari
Publication Date:: 06-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: ARI Movement
Abstract:: Turkey’s Middle East policy under the AKP government – in particular, its stance on Syria and the fight against ISIL – has had a damaging effect on not only its 60-year-old alliance with the US, but also its regional standing. The author chronicles several of the government’s blunders, arguing that they ultimately stem from a “fundamental miscalculation of Turkey’s power and capacity to shape regional developments.” From the government’s misplaced confidence in Bashar al-Assad’s regime and subsequent radical reversal in its Syria policy, to its sectarian approach to the region and support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, to its deteriorated relationship with Israel, the author contends that Turkey has succeeded only in further alienating itself.
Topic:: Diplomacy, International Cooperation, Military Strategy, and ISIL
Political Geography:: United States, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, Syria, and Egypt

Author:: Merve Tahiroglu and Behnam Ben Taleblue
Publication Date:: 06-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: ARI Movement
Abstract:: Inheriting a legacy of imperial competition, the Turkey-Iran rivalry today manifests itself through the contest for leadership of the Arab Middle East, and Muslim hearts and minds more generally. The authors contend that Turkey and Iran’s relationship transcends the boundaries of amity or enmity that traditionally define actors in the modern Middle East state system. Rather, Ankara and Tehran have been able to successfully compartmentalize elements of their rivalry while strengthening bilateral ties and expanding areas of economic cooperation. The authors posit that the present-day Turko-Iranian relationship falls in the category of neither friend nor enemy, but rather that of frenemy.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:: Europe, Iran, Turkey, Middle East, and Asia

Author:: Gabriel Mitchell
Publication Date:: 06-2015
Content Type:: Journal Article
Institution:: ARI Movement
Abstract:: Most analysts consider Davutogˆlu’s “zero problems with neighbors” strategy a failure, and typically cite Turkey’s decision to lend its support to religious conservative movements like the Muslim Brotherhood during the Arab Spring as a primary example. However, the failures of the last few years must also be understood within the framework of a larger narrative where Turkey has insisted on functioning as an intermediary between Israel and Syria, and the United States and Iran. These episodes, during which Turkey overstepped the boundaries of its influence, revealed the limitations of Turkish foreign policy and foreshadowed its regional decline.
Topic:: Foreign Policy, Civil War, Diplomacy, and Mediation
Political Geography:: United States, Turkey, Middle East, Israel, and Syria

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