Browsing by Subject "alliance"

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Open Access
Dynamics of the alliance between Turkey and USA : the South Caucasus case
(2003) Ayhan, Halil Sıddık
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the South Caucasus presented several opportunities and challenges in the political, economic and military domains to the US as the unique superpower of the world, and to Turkey as a regional power. Though there occurred several crises in the Turkish-American alliance from its outset, both states whose interests converged; encouraging the development of democratic pro-Western regimes and free-market economy, hindering ethnic conflicts, expanding NATO’s membership, blocking monopolization of oil export routes in the Caucasus, securing oil reserves in the Caspian, preventing the rebuilding of the Russian Empire and falling the newly independent states of the South Caucasus from falling into the hegemony of Russia and Iran, keeping Iran’s fundamentalist regime in check, and pursuing active politics in the South Caucasus as a duty for the sake of their own global and regional interests. But, there had been also differences in the allies’ politics as in the NagornoKarabakh conflict. However, the South Caucasian states, including Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia faced enormous difficulties in enhancing their national security, implementing the process of state building and improving their economic situation after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and therefore, independence for these states did not initially provide political stability. Internal conflicts, and Russia’s imperialist policies undermined these states’ efforts in order to be strong and independent states, and they could not cope with the challenges of the new geopolitical and economic environment due to the lack of their own military power, and strong economy. Thereupon, these states’ first years of independence have been fraught with economic, political, and social difficulties. But the vigorous efforts of the US and Turkey prevented the South Caucasian states from falling into Russian hegemony and accelerated state-building process of these countries as examined in this study
Open Access
NATO enlargement and its implications for Turkey
(2001) Çatal, Erdoğan
NATO, which has been throughout the Cold War a collective defense organization, was considered either useless or out of date with the end of the Cold War. However, as it did in the early years of the Cold War, habitually originating from its own dynamics, NATO transformed itself in order to meet the imperatives of the post-Cold War international environment. The geographical enlargement of NATO is the centerpiece of this whole transformation process. It bears implications not only for NATO itself but also for the foreign policy that Euro-Atlantic states follow. The partnership and membership aspects of the geographical enlargement preserved NATO's credibility and served NATO on its way to become a security community, and both aspects ensured NATO's survival. As such, the establishment of relations either through partnership, membership or other way with NATO became the objective of CEE, Balkan, Caucasian, and Central Asian countries, on their way to acquire a democratic, peaceful, and Western identity. In this context, NATO addressed the concerns of a community of 46 states in the Euro-Atlantic region. Meanwhile, on part of Turkey, there appeared some opportunities and setbacks. While consolidating Turkey's western identity on the Caucasus, the Balkans and Central Asia, NATO enlargement brought new concerns to Turkey's agenda regarding regional security as well as Turkey's position in its only and most institutional and functional linkage with the Western Europe and the U.S. After the admission of three new members to NATO in 1999, the pros and cons of a second round of NATO enlargement requires an examination in depth as the decision time gets closer, not only for NATO but also for Turkey.