Theoretical Approaches To Turkish Foreign Policy

This volume, with contributions from well-respected experts on Turkey, examines how well different theories and frameworks in international relations explain various aspects of contemporary Turkish foreign policy (TFP). Exploring the value of both structural (neorealist) and ideational (constructivist) approaches, the book’s theory-informed case studies on the features of TFP including Neo-Ottomanism; the role of religion; and Turkey’s relations with the European Union, the Middle East, Russia, and the United States, provide an analytical perspective on developments that have captured the attention of both academics and policymakers. More importantly, this collection examines the shift in Turkey’s foreign policy stance from Western and secular (non-sectarian) to Islamist, Turkist, Neo-Ottomanist and Eurasianist orientations. With Turkey assuming importance across a number of regions and issues, this book will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Middle East Studies, and Politics and International Relations. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Turkish Studies.

This book covers selected topics on contemporary Turkish Foreign Policy to understand and critically analyze the ideas, discourses, actors, processes and structures in the foreign policymaking. It provides the readers with a compilation of chapters on the critical analysis of Turkey’s changing positionality and foreign policy identity. In doing so, it draws on the tools and perspectives offered by the critical theories and approaches in International Relations and relevant disciplines. Most of the chapters included in this project deal with the dramatic metamorphoses that took place in Turkish Foreign Policy during the period when the Justice and Development Party ruled and their ongoing consequences.

This book offers an analysis of Turkish foreign policy based on transnational(ist) perspectives. In order to counterbalance the state-centric accounts that dominate this area of study, the authors provide theoretical frameworks as well as historical and contemporary case studies that emphasize transnational dynamics. The content is divided into four complementary sections that explain and exemplify transnational (f)actors in the context of Turkish foreign policy. The first addresses theoretical and ideational frameworks that illustrate the relevance of a transnational account, while the second demonstrates the possibility of developing transnationally oriented approaches even in historical cases, going beyond a presentist focus. In the third and fourth sections, the book focuses on two prominent non-state actors, namely diaspora communities and non-governmental organizations, which operate at the interstices of the domestic and the international. This allows the authors to highlight the significance of transnational dynamics in Turkey’s foreign policy.

This book offers an analysis of Turkish foreign policy based on transnational(ist) perspectives. In order to counterbalance the state-centric accounts that dominate this area of study, the authors provide theoretical frameworks as well as historical and contemporary case studies that emphasize transnational dynamics. The content is divided into four complementary sections that explain and exemplify transnational (f)actors in the context of Turkish foreign policy. The first addresses theoretical and ideational frameworks that illustrate the relevance of a transnational account, while the second demonstrates the possibility of developing transnationally oriented approaches even in historical cases, going beyond a presentist focus. In the third and fourth sections, the book focuses on two prominent non-state actors, namely diaspora communities and non-governmental organizations, which operate at the interstices of the domestic and the international. This allows the authors to highlight the significance of transnational dynamics in Turkey's foreign policy. ​Hazal Papuççular is an Assistant Professor at the Department of International Relations, Istanbul Kültür University, Turkey. She completed her Ph.D. in Modern Turkish History at Boğaziçi University's Atatürk Institute for Modern Turkish History and has written several books, articles and book chapters on Turkish foreign policy. She is the author of Türkiye ve Oniki Ada (1912-1947) (Türkiye İş Bankası Yayınları, 2019) and is currently focusing on Turkey's transnational diplomatic history. Deniz Kuru is a Lecturer of Political Science at Goethe Universität Frankfurt in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. His current research areas include the intellectual history and sociology of International Relations, German and French foreign policies, Turkey's global position, global intellectual history and global International Relations. He has published articles in Review of International Studies, International Relations, All Azimuth, Global Affairs and Mediterranean Politics.

This book addresses the shift in Turkish foreign policy in the post-Cold War era from a neoclassical realist point of view. In its analysis of Turkey’s pursuit of ‘an activist grand strategy’, it focuses on the interplay between international and domestic factors. It puts forth its argument through analysis of Turkey’s bilateral relations with Iran, Israel and the European Union. It offers comprehensive examinations of international relations theory and neoclassical realism (NCR). The book not only makes sense of Turkish foreign policy under the JDP rule, but also provides a comprehensive analysis of NCR’s explanatory power. It will primarily appeal to scholars on Turkey, international relations theory, realism, and Middle Eastern politics and students studying these areas, as well as think-tankers, journalists and researchers.

Annotation By using the core insights of the constructivist approach in international relations, this book analyses the foreign policy behaviour of Turkey. The author argues that Turkey's Western identity has influenced its foreign policy formulation and implementation since the War of Independence.

This book provides a critical realist analysis of Turkish foreign policy (TFP), covering various periods from the Turkish National Struggle to the contemporary Justice and Development Party Government. It discusses TFP within the critical realist framework, employing the concept of differences in continuity to demonstrate how agency and structure interacted, and how some discourses arose and others failed in the history of the Turkish Republic. The book also applies the concepts of strategy and strategic discourse to reveal how real-world strategic preferences correspond to the narration. Lastly, the author argues that the underlying structural forces have endured, despite Turkey’s persistence in enhancing the agency’s role, ultimately leading to differentiation between “what is spoken” and “what is actualized”.

This volume, with contributions from well-respected experts on Turkey, examines how well different theories and frameworks in international relations explain various aspects of contemporary Turkish foreign policy (TFP). Exploring the value of both structural (neorealist) and ideational (constructivist) approaches, the book’s theory-informed case studies on the features of TFP including Neo-Ottomanism; the role of religion; and Turkey’s relations with the European Union, the Middle East, Russia, and the United States, provide an analytical perspective on developments that have captured the attention of both academics and policymakers. More importantly, this collection examines the shift in Turkey’s foreign policy stance from Western and secular (non-sectarian) to Islamist, Turkist, Neo-Ottomanist and Eurasianist orientations. With Turkey assuming importance across a number of regions and issues, this book will be a great resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Middle East Studies, and Politics and International Relations. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal, Turkish Studies.