Particularly the last decade has seen Turkey becoming a prominent international actor in the Middle East. It likes to see itself as a conflict-manager and speaks of a zero problem toward neighbours foreign policy. This book attempts to understand Turkey's foreign policy, and the nature of the Turkish-Iranian relations. The central question of the book is whether Turkey is perceived to be a bridge or a threat by the European Union, the United States and the Arab world, and why. In analysing this question, particular attention is paid to the Turkey-Iran relations, due to the relevance of Iran in Middle East politics. Many factors influence the perspectives of these actors, and they fail to come to a consensus. Throughout the book, the appropriate historical context is provided for the best understanding of all the issues under discussion. This work will greatly extend your knowledge of Turkey's foreign policy and will give insights as to what the near future will be bringing.

This report explores the roots of Turkey's western orientation and the prospects for Turkish relations with Europe and the United States after the Cold War. The study indicates that Turkey's basic western orientation will almost certainly hold and that the prospects for Turkey formally joining the European Community have not improved despite Turkish support in the Gulf War. Turkey's prospects for inclusion in new European security arrangements will remain poor, and Turkey will become increasingly distinctive and perhaps isolated within the NATO alliance. It also finds that if Europe excludes Turkey, then the significance of the bilateral relationship with the United States will grow and that U.S. and Turkish interests are likely to remain broadly congruent. Given these findings, the United States should strive to promote Turkey's strategic importance in Europe and the Middle East, avoid pressing Ankara for a formal expansion of defense cooperation, consider the potential role of Turkey as a conduit for western aid to the southern republics of the former Soviet Union, seek the development of a more mature and diversified relationship mixing traditional security assistance with expansion of political and economic ties, and continue playing an active role in promoting a Cyprus settlement.

Previous researches examine how transnational ethnic ties impact the relationship between host states and diaspora and why states and ethnic minorities in the diaspora may occasionally support violent rebel organizations in the homeland. However, these previous studies do not really consider the relationships among co-ethnic organizations without a homeland government. This book tackles the following important questions: How and when do co-ethnic Kurdish organizations provide open support for each other during conflict-peace cycle events? Moreover, do external threats impact the relationship among co-ethnic organizations? The aim of this research is to identify the causal factors that influence the transnational networks between Kurdish organizations. Research findings reveal that political rationality and external threats seem to be stronger predictors of political behavior than ethnic ties in the Kurdish case. This study helps scholars and policy makers to evaluate the impact of transnational networks between co-ethnic Kurdish organizations in cases of civil war, which may play a crucial role in the escalation and de-escalation of international conflicts. In addition, this research helps to understand the role of co-ethnic organizations in building sustainable peace in areas of conflict.

Debating Security in Turkey: Challenges and Changes in the Twenty-First Century, edited by Ebru Canan-Sokullu, gives a detailed account of the strategic security agenda facing Turkey in an era of uncertainty and swift transformation in global politics, and regional and local dynamics. The contributors to this volume describe the challenges and changes that Turkey encounters in the international, regional, and national environment at a time of extraordinary flux. This study provides a framework for Turkish security agenda locating it in theoretical discussions, and developing a conceptual framework of security challenges to Turkey, and to a broader region where the country and its interests are located. The book positions Turkey in the new global security order addressing a multidimensional political agenda, and points to the need not only to elaborate on the overall evaluation of Turkey's political affairs--domestic and foreign-- but also to trace a critical conjuncture of transatlantic relations, its recent role in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia, and bid for full membership in the EU within the security context. Finally, the contributors reflect upon where Turkey's security challenges and prospects stand from internal and external perspectives with an interactive foreign policy assessment. Debating Security in Turkey is an essential contribution to the literature of Turkish national security, and the effects of that security in the region.

Security is a major contemporary concern, with foreign and security policies topping the agenda of many governments. At the centre of Western security concerns is Turkey, due to its geographical proximity to converging major fault lines such as the Caucasus, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. As trans-Atlantic debates evolve around these major fault lines, future relations will have a direct impact on the re-orientation of Turkish foreign and security policies. This comprehensive study focuses on the future of Turkish foreign and security policies within the emerging strategies of the two Wests. Discussing the challenges Turkey has been facing since the turn of the century, it examines Turkish foreign policy in the context of trans-Atlantic relations - as a global actor, and with respect to conflict, new power relations, energy security, Greece, Cyprus and the environment.

This annual volume includes papers from the 2015 CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues' Capstone Conference. Spanning a wide range of technical and policy issues, the papers further discussion in their respective areas and contribute to the training of the greater nuclear community.