Conceptions of ‘the international’ beyond the core: Turkey in the post-Cold War era
Author(s)
Date
2018Source Title
Turkish Studies
Print ISSN
1468-3849
Publisher
Routledge
Volume
19
Issue
4
Pages
571 - 592
Language
English
Type
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Abstract
International relations (IR) scholarship rests on a conception of ‘the international’ based on the experiences of core actors. A burgeoning literature has asked what IR would look like if non-core actors’ conceptions of ‘the international’ were also considered. This article analyzes conceptions of ‘the international’ in Turkey as an example of a non-core context. In doing this, the article develops and offers a new analytical framework which breaks down the components of conceptions of ‘the international’ into three questions: ‘what’, ‘who’, and ‘where’ of world politics-namely, the main dynamics of world politics, the main actors of world politics, and the location where world politics takes place. I utilize this framework to empirically analyze the election manifestos and party programs of the political parties in Turkey, and tease out their conceptions of ‘the international.’ The article concludes by considering the implications of these findings for IR scholarship in general.
Keywords
International relationsInternational relations theory
Political parties
Turkey
Turkish politics