"Congress and the Obama Administration are seeking to manage longstanding bilateral and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-based defense cooperation with Turkey at a time when a more independent Turkish foreign policy course and changes in regional security conditions are creating new challenges for both countries. Defense cooperation rooted in shared threat perceptions from the Cold War era and built on close U.S. ties with the Turkish military leadership now must be reconciled with a decline of the military's political influence in Turkish society and some negative turns in Turkish popular sentiment toward the United States over the past decade. At the same time, Turkey's importance as a U.S. ally has arguably increased on issues of global significance in its surrounding region that include Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. In early 2011, Turkey's regional role has arguably become even more prominent--exemplified by its significant involvement politically and militarily on the question of NATO's intervention in Libya"--Second page of April 8, 2011 report.

This books aims at analyzing Turkish foreign and security policies in the 21st century. Turkey’s foreign and security policies have become the focus of academic discussions since Turkey is located in the middle of the most unstable region in the world. Turkey’s self-assured foreign policy has similarly attracted the attention of academicians worldwide. Meanwhile, Turkey’s security policy has also been the subject of discussions as the country has been struggling with ethnic terrorism for 35 years. Furthermore, the US invasion of Iraq and the recent Syrian civil war, along with other factors, have caused religious radicalism to expand its power throughout the Middle East, which has heavily impacted on Turkey’s security. Turkey’s longstanding problems with its neighbors have also affected the general characteristics of its foreign policy, particularly leading to its securitization.

Although Turkey still depends on the United States and other NATO allies for political and strategic support, growing economic diversification and military self-reliance allows Turkey to exercise greater leverage with the West. These trends have helped fuel continuing Turkish political transformation led in the past decade by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has Islamist roots. Future domestic political developments may determine how Turkey reconciles respect for democratic views that favour Turkish nationalism and traditional Sunni Muslim values with protection of individual freedoms, minority rights, rule of law, and the principle of secular governance. This book examines U.S. relations with Turkey, with a focus on domestic and foreign policy issues; the decline in Israel-Turkey relations; and ongoing change in the Middle East region.

This encyclopedia presents important research on Turkey. Some of the topics discussed herein include the prospects and challenges involved in Turkey and United States defense cooperation; Turkey-Kurdish regional government relations after the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq; Turkey's new regional security role's implications for the U.S.; and Turkey's background and relations with the United States.