Dept.of International Relations - Master's degree
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Browsing Dept.of International Relations - Master's degree by Subject "Afghanistan"
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Item Open Access International security assistance force : with special reference to Turkey's leadership(Bilkent University, 2004) Ateş, R. DenizThis thesis describes and explains the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) with special reference to Turkey’s leadership. The significance of Turkey’s leadership, organization and activities of ISAF will be explained alongside the events led to the establishment of ISAF, its history, mission, and competences. After the U.S.-led multinational operation defeated the Taliban regime and damaged Al Qaeda heavily, the maintenance of security and the reconstruction of Afghanistan were vital in order to prevent revitalization of the broken link between Afghanistan and international terrorism. As a part of the UN state-building activities in Afghanistan, to assist the Afghan authorities in the maintenance of security in Kabul and surrounding areas, the UN Security Council authorized ISAF, initially led by Great Britain. After September 11, Turkey emerged as one of the leading actors in the fight against terrorism and she, being a country that suffered from terrorism for years, supported fully all the counter-terrorism activities. Turkey actively participated in ISAF, and when the British mandate was over, she took over the command of ISAF. Turkey was a perfect choice to lead ISAF since she had an Islamic population with a secular and democratic government and was one of the few countries whose forces were capable of coping with this kind of mission. By assuming the command of ISAF, Turkey has demonstrated her determination to fight against terrorism once more. During her leadership, ISAF operated efficiently and the stability and security in Kabul and surrounding areas improved gradually.Item Open Access Soviet-Afghan war : the factors beneath the invasion(Bilkent University, 2013) Aydıntan, Mehmet Ali EmirThis thesis claims that there are other factors, apart from the Soviet aggression, which are equally important in clarifying the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Despite the fact that the idea that the Soviet Union would be pleased to see a client regime in her neighbors is embraced, more arguments are needed to be discussed to explain such a large scale invasion. Soviet Union and Afghanistan had developed sincere affairs since 1950s when the Soviet investments began to reach a substantial level. Well then, how this good relation deteriorated and finally resulted in an armed struggle? In fact, the Soviet efforts to build a socialist regime in Afghanistan bore fruit in 1978; nevertheless only in one year, the USSR invaded a country which put a red star in its banner and never posed a threat to the Soviet lands. Kremlin might have considered Afghanistan was a piece of cake comparing to its former military actions but the results were beyond the Soviet expectations.Item Open Access Transformation of NATO in the face of transnational terrorism(Bilkent University, 2009) Bulduk, SebahatTransnational terrorism with special reference to the September 11 attacks in 2001 on the territory of the United States has significant impacts on NATO’s approach to terrorism at rhetorical, practical and institutional levels. This thesis describes and explains the role of transnational terrorism on NATO’s transformation process, which intensified with the end of Cold War era. The Alliance’s 1991 and 1999 Strategic Concepts already defined terrorism as one of the risks to the Allies’ security. However, NATO began to actively engage in fighting against terrorism after the September 11 attacks. Just after 9/11, NATO for the first time in its history invoked Article 5, which is the collective defense clause of the Washington Treaty. Particularly, the Prague Summit held in 2002 has been catalyst for the transformation of Alliance into an organization that is more adaptive to the new security environment where the threats are less likely to be state-centric. In the assessment, until September 11, 2001, terrorism did not have a priority on the NATO’s agenda. Then, after the dramatic assaults, almost every step in the Alliance has been taken in the name of fighting against terrorism. The creation of the NATO Response Force, Terrorist Threat Intelligence Unit and further a new “Allied Command Transformation” are several examples in this regard. Basically, 9/11 demonstrated that transnational terrorism constitutes a very serious threat even for a super power, nobody is immune from terrorism and the approach to terrorism as a domestic threat is no longer applicable.