Same situation, different terminus : lessons regarding relations between Turkey and Greece and South Korea and Japan from 1948 to 1965

Abstract

In 1948, Turkey-Greece and South Korea-Japan relations were in similar situations of a historical national animosity, perception of communist threat, and strategic interests of an alliance with the U.S. In 1965, whereas the North Eastern case came to a „more peaceful‟ convergence, the Mediterranean case reached „a conflictual type‟ of divergence. The aim of this thesis is to reveal the reason, comparing the two American solutions, which employed two theories, namely, institutionalism and economic interdependence: NATO in the Mediterranean case and bilateral trade in the North Eastern one. Through the use of theoretical and historical/empirical approach, this thesis highlights two findings: (1) in dyadic level of conflict, an economic solution was more successful than the NATO solution, and (2) the formation of direct bilateral relations was easier to eliminate historical enmity and establish peace than multilateral ones. I conclude that bilateral economic interdependence is far more effective in building peaceful relations between states compared to multilateral institutionalism.