Browsing by Subject "The Middle East"
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Item Open Access The contours of post-Cold War Turkish-American relations, (1990-2001)(Bilkent University, 2004) Tekdemir, SevinçThe nature of post-Cold War decade Turkish-American relations has largely been determined by the new strategic circumstances that also have stared to frame world politics. In this decade, new challenges and opportunities brought together new areas of cooperation for the U.S. and Turkey by strengthening their alliance within NATO. Hence, the mutual importance attributed to the relationship has flourished as a result of the essentiality of their alliance. Neither the U.S. nor Turkey could afford to lose a significant ally with whom they share common interests in the region. Furthermore, it could be argued that these allies will need each other in the future to realize their foreign policy objectives concerning the relations with the neighboring countries. Thus, the simpler approach to the thesis is analyzing the exogenous and indigenous factors that affect the character of Turkish-American relations in the post-Cold War era.Item Open Access Fourty five years of Turkish foreign policy towards Syria : under the shadow of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(Bilkent University, 2005) Aydoğdu, Özay MuratThis thesis analyzes the Turkish-Syrian relations between 1945 and 1990 and examines whether there was an influence of the Soviet Union or not in relations between both states. Although Turkish foreign policy was accepted as pro-western oriented policy by academic environment, it can be said that Turkey was partly influenced by the Soviet Union in its policy towards Syria. Turkey established relations with Syria and Middle Eastern states in varying approaches, and adopted these approaches in order to be in harmony with the West. However, the Soviet Union was important in Turkish foreign policy towards Syria because Syria was a Soviet advocate in the Middle East and was supported widely by the Soviet Union. Although the opinion of the Turkish foreign policy was stemmed from the Soviet Union was widespread, Turkey used the Soviet menace for its domestic and international interests. On the contrary, especially in post-1960 policies, Turkey improved its relations with the Soviet Union while it established rapprochement with Arab states in order to keep its national interestsItem Open Access Imagining the Middle East: the state, nationalism and regional international society(Bristol University Press, 2015-07-24) Göl, A.The Middle East is commonly perceived as a zone of cultural and political differences within the global international society. Imagining the Middle East as a ‘unique’ region is not a new idea, but relocating this conception within the English School (ES) of International Relations (IR) is. This article challenges the perceived ‘exceptionalism’ of the Middle East, which claims that the European concepts of state, sovereignty and nationalism are alien to Islam, therefore preventing the emergence of a regional international society. The first part highlights the correlation between Eurocentrism in IR and the lack of interest in regional – area – studies through the critique of Orientalism and the ES. The second part moves to demonstrate why the ES is more explanatory than other IR theories in the context of the Ottoman–European relations. The third part explores the ‘institutional distinctiveness’ of the Middle East, disproving the notion of regional ‘exceptionalism’ and IR’s foundational Eurocentric assumptions. This article concludes by arguing that there is a strong case for calling the Middle East a ‘regional interstate society’, which remains to be a litmus test of whether or not a truly global international society is possible.Item Open Access The origins of the Cold War in the Middle East : the Turkish case(Bilkent University, 2006) Çakal, HüseyinThis thesis aims to analyze the “contribution” of Turkey to the origins of the Cold War in the Middle East. The main argument of this thesis, in this context, is that the immediate post war environment in the middle east did not resemble something different from the years-old strategic environment in the middle east, main characteristic of which is continuous great power rivalry for hegemony over the region. At this juncture Turkey’s contribution happened to be a catalyst in the deterioration of the pragmatist wartime partnership between the Soviet Union and the Western Allies. Turkish policy makers stressed the power and inevitability of Russian attack in the event of lack of British and American opposition. During the period concerned, in the Middle East, the danger to the security of the free world did arise not so much from the threat of direct Soviet military aggression. It mainly aroused from continuation of the unfavorable historical trends. Therefore, imperial rivalries and dynastic ambitions suffice to explain most part of the postwar situation in the Middle East and thereby gave enough clue for the origins of the Cold War in that part of the world.Item Open Access Reconsidering the concept of influence: the case of Turkey’s relations with the Middle East (2003-2014)(Bilkent University, 2016-06) Ersoy, EyüpThis thesis propounds a new conceptual analysis of influence in international relations. First, it advances a novel definition of influence, with additional clarifications on the relationship between influence and power(s). Second, this thesis addresses the causes of states’ quest for influence in international relations. This thesis identifies three motives of security, economy, and identity as existential imperatives of state conduct to seek influence in international relations. Third, this thesis presents an analysis of the patterns and causes of variations among these motives in states’ regional foreign policies. Finally, Turkey’s dyadic relationships in the Middle East between 2003 and 2014, specifically with the states of Syria, Iran, and Palestine, constitutes the case study of this thesis.Item Open Access Understanding new middle eastern leadership: an operational code approach(SAGE Publications, 2018) Özdamar, Özgür; Canbolat, S.Political Islam and Islamist organizations have broadly gained strength across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in the post-Cold War era. Following the Arab uprisings, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), generally viewed as the world’s largest and most influential Islamist organization, has shaped the wider landscape of MENA politics. This study examines MB leadership by comparing M. Morsi of Egypt, R. Ghannouchi of Tunisia, and K. Meshaal of Gaza as examples of Islamist leaders to explain their political belief systems and predict their foreign-policy behavior. We use the operational code approach, a content-analysis software and statistical tests to conduct the study. Results show that the three leaders’ foreign policy beliefs are analogous to the averages of world leaders. Results also partially support the hypothesis that their foreign-policy propensities are similar to each other. We conclude that despite the conventional portrayal of MB leadership, these leaders use negotiation and cooperation to settle their differences in foreign affairs, and the best way to approach them is to engage in a Rousseauvian assurance game that emphasizes international social cooperation. Results also suggest important implications in terms of mainstream international relations theories.