The 75th issue of TPQ comes at a time when the world is still in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. While not a new phenomenon, the concurrent swell in digital disinformation and misinformation has complicated the public health response on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as further eroded democratic values. Our Fall 2020 issue focuses on key challenges related to disinformation and misinformation, featuring analyses on social media usage, data protection and privacy, fact-checking, and the future of disinformation in a post-COVID-19 world. We are honored to publish this special and timely issue in collaboration with our longstanding partner, Friedrich Naumann Foundation (FNF). Foreign interference and manipulation tactics have not only been polluting the digital space, but have also been threatening democratic societies, institutions, and values. Headlining the Fall 2020 issue, Anneli Ahonen, Head of the East StratCom Task Force at the European Union External Action Service, provides an overview of the EU’s response to this worldwide threat through the cases of Ukraine and Belarus. The Task Force’s efforts to counter disinformation are part and parcel of strengthening the EU’s communication with its Eastern neighborhood, explains Ahonen. The author points to online campaigns such as #BeatCovid and EUvsDisinfo as having been particularly effective: the former has helped increase the rate of Ukrainians who see the EU as Ukraine’s ally in the fight against COVID-19 from 10 to 32 percent, while the latter has played a vital role in informing Belarusian journalists about Kremlin disinformation tactics in the context of post-election rallies. Concluding that societies are not helpless in the face of disinformation, Ahonen argues that the “infodemic” is an opportunity for democracies to increase their support of freedom of speech and independent, trustworthy media outlets. Discussing the state of print media in Turkey during the pandemic, General Director of the Press Bulletin Authority, Rıdvan Duran, elaborates on the support mechanisms the Turkish Government has provided to newspapers during this period. Highlighting the significant role of print media in the response to COVID-19, Duran argues that newspapers, despite their uncertain future, continue to be a reliable communication channel by providing accurate and fact-checked information during public crises. Therefore, as part of efforts to ensure newspapers’ survival during the pandemic, advertisement costs were determined as force majeure and debt payments were deferred, Duran explains. With the contentious 2020 US presidential election behind us, Brittany Beaulieu, visiting fellow at GMF, elucidates on the history of malign influence operations surrounding US elections, with a focus on the 2016 elections. US governmental bodies exposed the Kremlin’s interference campaigns and implemented deterrent policies, however Beaulieu argues that President Trump has undermined those efforts by not putting forward a coherent foreign interference policy. It is the question of whether the US can repair its institutional capacity that will determine its success in addressing foreign interference, Beaulieu concludes. Some of the other topics explored in this issue include data privacy rights, social media platforms’ efforts to curb online disinformation, the pivotal role fact-checkers play in combatting fake news in Turkey, and systemic racism within the nursing profession in Canada.

TPQ’s Summer issue, NATO in 2020 and Beyond: New Strategies and Frontiers, offers insights on the Alliance’s current challenges and future security trends, while offering a look into Euro-Atlantic relations in the coming decade. It is clear that as the international security landscape is rapidly changing, member states’ capabilities, resilience, and most importantly, their commitment will be put to the test. In December 2019, NATO Leaders gathered in London to celebrate the Alliance’s 70-year history and assess the current state of transatlantic bonds. A growing list of both internal and external issues that will continue to be important for NATO were discussed, including Russia’s deployment of intermediate-range missiles, NATO’s expansion policy, China’s growing influence on the international stage, and strategic divisions among member states. The COVID-19 pandemic poses a particularly pressing challenge to NATO and its crisis response efforts. Headlining the Summer 2020 issue is NATO Assistant Secretary General Baiba Braze, whose article focuses on the Alliance’s resilience in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Underlining the importance of multilateralism in the face of global crises, Braze explains NATO’s role in supporting wider efforts to fight the virus, while also critically preventing the health crisis from spawning security crises. Braze concludes by outlining NATO’s 2030 vision, which prioritizes making the Alliance stronger politically, as well as extending its global reach. Discussing the future of the transatlantic relationship in a declining liberal world order, Senior Advisor to the President of Turkey Gülnur Aybet argues that the policies of certain allies have forced Turkey to become a “self-help” state. Aybet illustrates a revised and inclusive liberal world order in which Turkey is understood in its own context, and thus, approached accordingly. Other topics taken up in this issue are the consequences of the INF Treaty’s demise and NATO’s digital public diplomacy efforts. Several of our authors discuss NATO’s expansion policy, including North Macedonia’s recent accession as the Alliance’s 30th member and the prospective memberships of Ukraine and Georgia.

As part of a new series of debates we hope to ignite on the evolving world order, TPQ’s Winter 2020/21 edition explores the question of how the US’s changing role amid ongoing tensions with global powers will shape the upcoming decade. Topics such as the Trump administration’s domestic and foreign policy decisions and its reflections on the global stage, as well as where post-9/11 American cultural values and principles stand today are discussed. This unique edition marks the first of discussions that we look forward to stimulating across our platform on where the US—and the liberal international order—is headed. Headlining this special issue, James Franklin Jeffrey, Chair of the Middle East program at Wilson Center, writes on the US’s foreign policy in the Middle East, in particular the Trump administration’s unique approach to the region. As a result of the success of the Trump administration’s strategies which focused on near peer competition and reliance on partners and allies, Ambassador Jeffrey argues that, with the exception of the Iranian nuclear file, the Middle East looks more secure now than it did at the end of the Obama administration. The question now is whether the Biden administration can expand on this success or return to the Obama administration’s now obsolete policies, he concludes. We extend our deepest thanks to our Advisory Board member Ambassador Jeffrey, as we are particularly honored to have had the opportunity to feature his views in this issue. In the first part of a special two-part contribution, TPQ’s Publisher, Kemal Köprülü, provides an intricate analysis of the US’s inner decay from a personal as well as professional standpoint. While reflecting on the US presidential election season, the demise of objective American media, and the year 2020 as a whole, Köprülü dives deep into systemic issues such as a lack of accountability that continue to plague the American political system. Noting that the US is in deep trouble, Köprülü asserts that the US needs to restructure its system with first and foremost transparency, accountability, political ethics, and the rule of law. Despite American fatigue with involvement in overseas wars, Assal Rad, Senior Research Fellow at the National Iranian American Council, writes that American leaders have continued to intervene abroad. It is within this context, Rad argues, the Obama administration’s efforts to broker a deal with Iran must be analyzed. After four years of attempts by President Trump to undermine these efforts, Rad concludes that the US is at a crossroads: the Biden administration can now either use its power to spearhead a renewed sense of global diplomacy by reviving the JCPOA, or use its power to trigger further conflict.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, individuals and governments across the globe have been reminded of the value of human life and the delicacy of human psychology. Societies have been forced to conform to governments’ speedy decisions to prevent the spread of the virus, and individuals—from the most vulnerable to the most well-off —were forced to self-isolate. The isolation period involuntarily transmuted into a confrontation period, where we started to question the substance of all what we believed to be true. We questioned the aptitude of certain governments and their leadership. We witnessed fractures in long-standing, ironclad unions. We were dismayed by the helplessness of countries—even the US—in responding to the basic needs of their own people. Now, societies are increasingly questioning their leadership and wondering why their governments had not executed needs assessments, engineered crisis response protocols, or prioritized budgetary spending prior to the pandemic. With the hardest times behind us, one still wonders: We know that the pandemic will eventually wear off, but will the effects similarly wane? Have we truly been reminded of the value of human life? Or is this just a period which we are temporarily strangulated by our emotions? The themes taken up on TPQ’s Spring 2020 issue titled The Economy of Bodies: Human Trafficking, Forced Labor, and Refugees coalesce perfectly with a time when the entire world continues to question collective values, priorities, and capabilities. While the world is recovering from the staggering effects of the pandemic, TPQ delves into a transatlantic contagion that is nowhere near recovery. The issue highlights a grotesque crime of modern life on a transnational scale—human trafficking—that generates billions in currency annually at the expense of millions of lives. Throughout the issue, our contributors touch upon the economy of human trafficking, the societal consequences of labor exploitation, child labor, refugee crises, the gendered impacts of COVID-19, and youth’s political participation. Despite entrenched human trafficking networks, our authors point out that with inclusive and collective strategies, governments can effectively turn the tide in the battle against human trafficking and forced labor. The Spring 2020 issue is a reminder that individuals and governments collectively have the responsibility of safeguarding universal morals and established principals. On another note, this issue is special due to the contributions of extremely valuable authors and experts, especially Ekrem İmamoğlu, current Mayor of Istanbul, and Abdullah Ayaz, Director of Migration Management at the Ministry of Interior. We would like to extend a special thanks to Mayor İmamoğlu, for contributing to our issue while simultaneously catering to the economic and social needs of Istanbul during the pandemic — a grueling task for such a densely populated city — and also Director Ayaz, for agreeing to contribute while continuing to lead Turkey’s efforts in the elimination of human trafficking and its consequences across the country.

There is perhaps nothing more important than being able to communicate in politics. In this regard, political communication is crucial, and it necessitates careful planning. A well-crafted message can influence public opinion. Effective politicians must have a compelling style, be able to connect with various constituencies and be engaging. By applying strategic messaging, a politician can effectively convince an audience. Using social media, in particular, can have a profound impact on political communication. Engagement in politics is now becoming easier than ever before. Over the past two decades, social media has taken a central role in politics and institutions around the globe. As the spread of social media has led to easier political involvement, it has also fueled the rise of authoritarian and illiberal regimes in many countries. Therefore, it is important to study political communication and apply it to different situations carefully. We contacted our contributing authors from around the world and asked for their input. As Janet Steele writes in her article, Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid shocked many when he declared that the Taliban would support free and independent media provided they followed Islamic law. She argues in her article that Western policymakers should take the Taliban's words seriously since they contain a set of powerful Islamic concepts likely to resonate with Muslim listeners around the world. Dan Slater and Jeremy Boo tell us that new information technologies impact authoritarian regimes and their social opponents in various ways. They combine recent academic literature in order to examine how social media and surveillance technology shape both opposition mobilization and authoritarian control in places like China, Iran, Russia, and Singapore. They identified four distinct dynamics of digitization: Liberation Technology, Digitized Transparency, Digitized Diversion, and Big Brother. As noted by Kutsal Yesilkagit, established liberal democracies around the globe face populism and the possibility of democratic backsliding. The rise of populist parties has forced civil servants to face a fundamental dilemma: Are they expected to serve their newly democratically elected officials, even when they disagree with their illiberal ideologies? Ben Voth considers ethics as a matter of political communication that has vexed human experimentation in politics since its inception. According to him, ethics in political communication is a necessity for ongoing consideration in all expert research on political communication to avoid important excesses of politics ranging from injustice to genocide. A critical component for achieving ethical rather than unethical conduct in political communication is a careful praxis of discursive complexity. Since the 21st century has intensified its attachment to vehicles of communication rooted in artificial intelligence, expert practitioners need to enhance their pedagogy and research towards encouraging human dissent. Peter Preston examines the idea of democracy in the European Union. In his view, the discussion of democracy in the European Union revolves around issues like parliaments, parties, party competition, and competitive elections. He also mentions the wider media environment. The model he cites is primarily liberal. There are criticisms, however: the central Brussels machinery lacks democratic legitimacy; some recent member states from the former Soviet sphere are authoritarian; and some established member states have prominent nationalist/populist parties. We invite you to learn more about what is shaping our world. There is a number of other articles in this issue that determine the focus of the TPQ Journal. I would like to thank many people for creating this issue for TPQ Journal and making it possible. The list includes all contributing authors as well as many others who devoted a great deal of time and effort. TPQ's team has worked hard to bring you this edition. Many of the features in it are the results of the excellent work they have done.

Israel, formally known as "The State of Israel," was established on 14 May 1948, and has since played a pivotal role in international affairs, particularly in the politics of the Middle East and North Africa. Israel's relations with its Arab neighbors have been tense for decades, and a lasting peace has never appeared more likely. Yet, we already live in a time of perpetual change, and naturally, the politics of Israel and the surrounding region of the Middle East and North Africa are not immune to this pattern. Realizing this, TPQ decided to focus on the Changing Dynamics of Israel's Foreign Policy in its upcoming Fall 2022 issue. Many new headings, with a specific reference to Israeli politics, have started to appear in Middle East and North African context. Israel and its Arab neighbors, often considered as "the enemies at gates," are experiencing an intriguing phase of normalization of relations. The Abraham Accords, a historic agreement resulting from this process, were ratified on 15 September 2020. Since then, positive reports about the improvement of ties among Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco have been steadily increasing. We at TPQ are firm believers in the significance of the Abraham Accords and plan to keep covering the topic as one of our primary areas of focus. The Abraham Accords will be the main topic of our upcoming roundtable organization, going to take place in Istanbul on November 30. This comes after a lengthy hiatus caused by the pandemic. One of the main goals of this issue is to delve deeper into the possibilities the Abraham Accords present by analyzing the factors of improving ties between Israel and its neighbors. In this spirit, we have encouraged our contributors to highlight this in their work. Additionally, we discuss the changing dynamics of Israeli-Palestinian relations as well as Israel's ties with other major regional actors such as Türkiye in this issue. The fourteen papers featured in this special issue of TPQ were written by a diverse group of internationally known scholars and public intellectuals who welcome your feedback and constructive criticism. Eyal Zisser sees the signing of the Abraham Accords in September 2022 as a turning point in Israel's place in the Middle East. He thinks the accords improved the atmosphere for cooperation in the areas of security and the economy by laying the groundwork for it. However, he claims that this change doesn't do anything to fix Israel's fundamental issues. His article is a brilliant work that aims to further evaluate these essential issues. Gerald M. Feierstein says that Israelis and Gulf Arabs drew closer due to similar worries of an aggressive and potent regime in Tehran, which bragged of its sway over four Arab capitals (Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and Sanaa). His excellent work focuses on regional issues that contributed to making of Abraham Accords. He likewise explores the Abraham Accords and discusses the geographical dynamics that contributed to its ratification. Efraim Karsh argues that in the 85 years since the two-state solution was proposed (a Jewish state and a Palestinian Arab state living side by side in peace and security), no Palestinian Arab leader has shown true support for it. Therefore, he concludes that if Palestinian society does not experience a thorough revolution that sweeps the corrupt and repressive PLO and Hamas governments from power, it will remain a pipe dream. He considers a two-state solution as a delusion. Maia Carter Hallward and Taib Biygautane believe that in 2020, numerous Arab governments announced U.S.-brokered full normalization accords with Israel, without any specific sacrifices on Israel's part vis-à-vis the Palestinians. According to them, these agreements, the Abraham Accords, signified a dramatic change in Arab-Israeli relations. Their great article looks at how the Abraham Accords were portrayed in the Israeli press. We encourage you to learn more about the aspects of Changing Dynamics of Israel's Foreign Policy.

The Israeli-Palestinian question has been at the heart of Middle Eastern politics for the last 80 years. Although the Palestinian’s land has been one of the main subjects of international politics since the beginning of the 20th century, it was the unusual creation of the Israeli state in 1948 that led to many regional crises. Since then the Israeli state has been the instigator of many regional wars, continuous expansionism, discrimination, and violation of international law and basic human rights. Millions of Palestinians were forced to leave their country and those who preferred to stay were deprived of their rights. A special type of apartheid has been implemented by the Israeli state. All regional states and most global powers have been involved with this problem, which is not only between the aggressive Israeli nationalism and the defensive Palestinian nationalism, but also a conflict between the Israeli state and the Arab countries, a civilizational dispute between a pro-Israeli coalition and Muslim countries and a war that symbolizes the struggle between the oppressor and the oppressed. A number of international organizations have passed different resolutions offering solutions to the problem. Among them is the Islamic Cooperation Organization which was established following the many attacks against sacred places, notably the city of al-Quds and al-Aqsa Mosque, in Palestine. The international community represented by the United Nations (UN) has been calling on the Israeli state for decades to withdraw from the occupied Palestinian territories and to abide by the international rules and principles. As the UN resolutions, international law, and international public opinion expect, and Palestinians also aspire for, Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories, namely East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip and recognize an independent Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution. However, global powers, especially the United States, have not allowed the UN to force the Israeli state to move out from the occupied territories and to restore peace in the region. In other words, the Palestinian people and Muslim nations have long witnessed the continuous Israeli fait accompli, the never-ending Palestinian suffering, the weakness of the Muslim Middle Eastern countries, and the indifference of the global powers. Israel continues to violate not only the rights of self-determination but also basic human rights for Palestinians. As one of the indications of this inhumane policy, the Gaza Strip has been under continuous Israeli blockade and attacks since 2006. Israel has been attacking the Gaza Strip and the West Bank intermittently, to expand its territories in order to establish new illegal Jewish settlements and squash any hope for Palestinian statehood. Israel’s large-scale attacks against the Gaza Strip in 2008, 2012, 2014, 2018, and 2019 have made conditions in Palestine unlivable. The latest attack in 2019 stopped with yet another cease-fire, however the fate of the most recent cease-fire is not different from the previous ones. Israel has never fulfilled its promises and cynically considers the cease-fire as a temporary process, allowing time to prepare for a new wave of violence. At a time when there is no will or strength in the Arab world to resist against any anti-Palestinian and anti-Arab development, the current Israeli and U.S. government is trying to legalize the years of Israeli atrocities, crimes against humanity, and violations of human rights. Most steps taken by these two governments contradict with and violate international norms and rules. First, the Israeli parliament adopted a law that is known as the “basic law” or “the nation-state act” in 2018. According to this law, the right to exercise national self-determination in the state of Israel is unique to the Jewish people and thereby it denies Palestinian people any national rights or existence. Second, U.S. President Donald Trump’s unilateral recognition of the “united Jerusalem” as the capital of Israel and the transfer of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is a pivotal point in the history of the Middle East, for both regional and global actors. This decision, with significant implications for the Middle Eastern politics, is not only about the transfer of the Israeli capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, but also about the halt of the Middle Eastern peace process. Furthermore, it implicitly means that the U.S. supports the expulsion of Palestinians from their homeland and the prevention of the establishment of a Palestinian state. In other words, the U.S. has contradicted its traditional policy and has abandoned the long-time advocated two-state solution. Third, contrary to basic rules of international law and a number of UN resolutions, the U.S. government announced that they do not consider the illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories as inconsistent with international law. The U.S. also stopped funding the United Nations Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA) and closed down the Washington D.C office of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a body internationally recognized as the representative of the Palestinian people. With all these steps, the U.S. government demonstrated that it fully and unconditionally supports the Israeli state. Fourth, Trump has declared a so-called Middle East peace plan in January 28, 2020 after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Benny Gantz in Washington D.C. The U.S. government has ignored and violated all decisions made and resolutions passed by the UN regarding the issue, according to which the Israeli state is an occupier of the Palestinian land and violator of international rules and norms. Bearing in mind all these illegal steps, it can be said that the U.S. shares the responsibility with Israel for the violation of Palestinian rights. Achieving peace between the Israeli state and the Palestinian people appears to be unachievable, because the Israeli side does not take any Palestinian demands into consideration. All steps taken so far have been unilateral and against the interests of the Palestinians. The Deal of the Century is no exception; it is also a unilateral intervention to the question. Effectively, it is a dictation to the Palestinian-Israeli problem which ignores the realities on the ground. The timing of the Deal of the Century has to do with the current situation in the Arab world. As a matter of fact, today there is no political Arab world, since almost all heavyweight nationalist Arab states are in chaos, politically unstable or vulnerable. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia who claim the leadership of the Arab world are closely associated with the Trump Administration and the Israeli state. These two Arab states and the current Egyptian government support Israel rather than the Palestinians and blame Palestinian political groups instead of the Israeli state for the ongoing situation. These states condemn the retaliatory actions conducted by the Palestinians and remain silent about the inhumane treatment they suffer at the hands of the Israeli war machine. Consequently, there is no strong Arab state to defend the rights of Palestinians. For decades, Arab regimes have exploited the issue for domestic political legitimacy. Arab regimes who were afraid of their peoples tried to satisfy their demands by exaggerating the Israeli threat. Nowadays it appears that their fear of external powers is greater, which is why they capitulate to the demands of countries such as Israel and the U.S. and accordingly use the Palestinian issue in negotiations to their own benefit. However, Trump’s proclamation of the Deal of the Century caused fierce reaction from public opinion worldwide, especially from the Arab streets and Muslim communities. The Trump Administration miscalculated the civilian reaction. This time, it will be difficult to convince the Arab public, since it is much more aware than before about their regimes’ foreign policy behavior. Trump’s declaration, which contributed to the reunification of the Arab and Muslim peoples, satisfies only radical Christians and Zionist Jews. As long as the blockade on the Palestinian lands continues, the region will be subject to new waves of violence. Considering the unstable international system, ultra-nationalist, and xenophobic Western politics, chaotic regional atmosphere and Israeli domestic politics, it is not expected that the Israeli government will ease the blockade and give some rights to the Palestinians. Global powers such as the U.S. and the European Union not only close their eyes to the Israeli atrocities but also support its unequal and limitless violence. Even the UN has begun to warn “the two sides” about the escalation of violence, thus undervaluing the Israeli brutality by equating it with the small retaliatory actions of the Palestinains. Therefore, it can be said that there is currently no deterrent power in the world that is preventing Israeli aggression. Only a significant change in the regional and global balance of power will bring considerable changes in Israeli policies towards the region. This new issue of Insight Turkey highlights different subjects regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Some of the leading and well-known intellectuals and academicians from Palestine, Israel, Turkey, Europe, and the United States contributed to this issue focusing of different dimensions of the problem. From a religious perspective, more particularly in Islam, the status and significance of Bayt al-Maqdis, the city of al-Quds, which is one of the main themes of the problem, must be acknowledged. Ikrime Sa’eed Sabri’s commentary explains the significance of Bayt al-Maqdis by addressing the close bonds, namely the bonds of creed, worship, civilization and culture, and history which are firm ties that link Muslims to Bayt al-Maqdis and the land of Palestine. The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has faced many different obstacles since the United Nations resolved to partition Palestine into two separate states, Jewish and Arab. Galia Golan addresses these obstacles between Israel and Palestine as well as possibilities for peace, primarily the pragmatic 1988 PLO decision to create a new state, next to the state of Israel, in the West Bank and Gaza, with a capital in East Jerusalem. She discusses the possibilities of achieving a political peaceful co-existence in Palestine and finds it quite challenging. The commentary written by Victor Kattan examines the legality of the Israeli settlements and occupations in the West Bank, based on the perspective of international law and U.S. foreign policy. He analyzes the motives of the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to initiate an investigation into the alleged war crimes committed in Palestine by the Israeli state, which include Israel’s settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. “Is the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict achievable?” is the question that Ian Lustic seeks to answer. In his opinion, this solution is a pretty picture of the future that only good people can imagine. Meanwhile, it remains just that, a picture, because there is a lack of effort to conduct negotiations between the Israeli state and the Palestinian people. This lack of effort is mainly related to the nature of negotiations which have become highly provocative in recent years. The influx of immigrant Jewish communities from different countries to Israel has disenfranchised the Palestinians from their land. Although, Israel claims that it offers democratic rights for all its citizens, in reality Palestinians have nothing. Ran Greenstein conceptualizes this situation by comparing the Israeli policies with the practice of apartheid in South Africa. He identifies the policies practiced by Israel as “apartheid of a special type” and a crime against humanity. To reveal how the status of the original Palestinian population has been ignored, Elia Zureik highlights the Israeli practices of governance in Palestine and how the Zionist movement and later the Israeli state have worked to kill the dream of the Palestinian people for their own state. This has been achieved through passing racially biased laws that discriminate against the native population, and using violence when enforcing those laws, especially after the Israeli state codified its new citizenship law that defines Israel as the state of the Jewish people. Ayfer Erdoğan and Lourdes Habash question the continuity of the U.S. policy making towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially under the Trump Administration. The results show that there hasn’t been a radical change throughout the administrations; however, the U.S. position in the conflict has become more transparent with a sharper pro-Israel tilt during the Trump Administration. Hamas has a dual role in the political and military struggle against the Israeli state on one hand and Fatah in Palestinian politics on the other. Although Hamas has had many achievements, since its establishment in the late 1980s, it has also failed in many aspects. To understand why, Nasuh Uslu and İbrahim Karataş evaluate this dualist struggle of Hamas in Palestine. The authors conclude that since Hamas has been otherized by many international actors, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and some international actors contributed more to this struggle. However, Hamas is still expected to fulfill the needs of Palestinians. In addition to these eight articles, focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, there are some insightful pieces on a range of topics regarding Turkey and international politics. The transformation of international education with a Turkey-centric perspective strengthens Turkey’s cultural diplomacy and soft power. This transformation is led by different sub-governmental and non-governmental organizations. One of the leading actors is the Turkish Maarif Foundation. In their commentary, Birol Akgün and Mehmet Özkan contextualize the foundation’s foreign and domestic policy and outline a vision through evaluating activities over the past three years. The principle of “the more corrupt the country, the less democratic it is likely to be” can be measured in the Balkan countries. Sabrina P. Ramet in her article addresses problems that the Balkan countries are facing, such as corruption, unemployment, and poverty. With regard to the events of the Gulf Crisis, Farhan Mujahid Chak deconstructs the reasons and motives behind the quartet’s blockade on Qatar. To do so, he employs post-colonialism variables, assuming that the preponderance of the U.S. military power in the Gulf Cooperation Council produces competing ‘projects’ in the Middle East. He underlines three conflicting ideal types: subservient, resisting/increasing, and pivoting from engagement to resisting the American hegemony. The article written by Nur Köprülü takes us back to the events of when the public protests engulfed most Arab regimes in 2011. However, she focuses on how the democratization processes in the MENA region led to the empowerment of the Islamist actors after decades of political exclusion. Hence, within a domestic and regional context shaping the politics of Islamist parties, Köprülü explores different trajectories of two countries in the region, the inclusion of Islamists in the case of Tunisia and their exclusion in the case of Jordan. In the last piece of this issue, Krizza Janica Mahinay analyzes the shift of the Moro National Liberation Movement (MNLF) in the discourse on Malaysia and the ramifications of this new discourse within the Philippine state. She elaborates this shift through the lens of power relations and foreign policy, taking into account the struggle for legitimacy within the Philippines. Through a wide range of commentaries and articles, this issue of Insight Turkey aims to bring to its readers a comprehensive framework on the current situation of the Israeli-Palestinian question. Whether there will be a deal to this problem remains a difficult question to be answered. Currently one thing is clear, that the plan declared by the Trump Administration, which was welcomed by Israel and some of its Arab allies, such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, assures the Palestinian people the continuation of their century long ordeal.