The impact of democratization on foreign policy the rise and fall of the Turkish-Israeli alliance

Abstract

Globalization is affecting state behavior in different ways. The purpose of this study is to understand the ways in which changes in the domestic structures of torn states due to democratization and decentralization and how these affect alliance behavior. By analyzing the Turkish-Israeli alliance through a longitudinal comparative case study comparing system level and state level variables in the 1990s and in the AKP period, the research argues that democratization, which empowers new elites and enables them to articulate and pursue alternative national agendas, leads to unpredictable alliance behavior. The findings suggest that purely systemic theories are not sufficient to address alliances in the contemporary world. Furthermore, the findings also suggest that globalization may be aggravating international anarchy.