Turkey's foreign policy activism: vision continuity and reality checks

Abstract

It is argued in this study that Turkey's ambition to play a key regional role and become a global actor is not novel. There have been at least two similar initiatives in recent history which defended Turkey's extraordinary strategic potential and aspired to put it into the heart of global politics. What has, however, been indeed novel and has lent credibility to the whole experiment is Turkey's recent economic dynamism and political reforms. While such a trend is indeed reasonable, Turkey's claims for a global strategic role and a value-based foreign policy may be already overblown. Turkey is bound to play a key regional role and may indeed become a global actor in the years to come; its capabilities, however, are not infinite, and significant risks may lurk in their overestimation. © 2014 Taylor & Francis.