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141. Challenges to Turkey’s Soft Power in the Middle East

Author:
Meliha Benli Altunisik
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
TESEV’s public opinion surveys in the Arab world that were conducted in 2009 and 2010 demonstrated that Turkey’s attractiveness has been quite high in the region. This attractiveness is due to the perception of Turkish foreign policy; the view of Turkey’s political and economic transformation as a success story; and Turkey’s cultural products. These characteristics point to a possibility of Turkey’s soft power in the region. The question remains, however, how Turkey exercises its soft power, an issue that has become all the more relevant as a result of the Arab Spring. In this article, Meliha Benli Altunışık analyses the influence of Turkey’s “soft power” in the Arab World under “Turkey’s Attractiveness”, “Challenges”, and “The Arab Spring and Turkey” subtitles.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Arab Spring, and Soft Power
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Arab Countries

142. Turkey’s Image in the Arab World

Author:
Paul Salem
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The author of this article, Paul Salem states that Turkey’s image in the Arab World (and Iran) became positive in past few years which was negative among the people of the Arab World (and Iran) throughout the 20th century. TESEV’s second survey of public opinion in the Arab world (and Iran) confirms this transformation. The positive opinion includes Turkey as a political, economic and social model; Turkey’s regional mediation and investment; and its popular culture. The TESEV survey shows that the people of the region are very positively inclined toward Turkey, and this implies that they would be favorable to a broader Turkish role that goes beyond confronting Israel, and toward helping the societies of the region move more steadily toward democratic change and economic development. Paul Salem concludes that as the people of the region rebel in favor of democratic change, Turkey certainly has even more potential and responsibility in the Arab World.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, Regional Cooperation, Public Opinion, and Arab Spring
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Arab Countries

143. What the Women Say: The Arab Spring & Implications for Women

Author:
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)
Abstract:
As the Arab world rumbles and shakes, women in the region are experiencing the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with instability, transition and crisis. From Tunisia and Egypt to Syria, Libya and Bahrain, women have been present and vocal in the street protest movements, standing shoulder to shoulder with the men, resisting the batons and tear gas, and being killed. While they made major gains in education and civil rights in the 1950s and 60s, Middle Eastern women were marginalized from politics and decision-making throughout recent decades. The current transition period does not bode well either. The political developments and status of women differ across countries. In the first of ICAN’s What theWomen Say; MENA Region briefs, we highlight common regional trends that threaten basic norms of democracy, equality and affect women’s abilities to participate in and influence the decision-making processes – nationally and internationally – that will determine the course of these countries’ futures and their lives.
Topic:
Women, Arab Spring, Protests, and Political Movements
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

144. Iran, the Shia Crescent and the Arab Uprising

Author:
Atilla Sandıklı and Emin Salihi
Publication Date:
08-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
BILGESAM (Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies)
Abstract:
With the Arab Spring, the nature of the ruling parties has changed and the authoritarian regimes have started to be dethroned in the Middle East. These have resulted in a transformation process in the political geography of the region. The ruling parties in the Middle East that had been at the hands of a small elite or a certain sectarian groups for a long period of time have changed hands as a result of people’s movements or they have been forced to make reforms in the direction of democratization. The Shia Crescent, which has prospered with the rise of the Shia factor and become more apparent, has come to be a crucial dynamic for Iran’s clout in the region. The report “Iran, the Shia Crescent and the Arab Spring” mainly focuses on these issues: Iran’s foreign policy line as of 1979, the Shia factors in Middle Eastern countries, Iran’s influence on these factors, and Tehran’s attitudes and the movements in the face of the rebel movements in the Arab world. Moreover, the report assesses Iran’s reactions to the people’s movements in the Arab countries along with its aims in the direction of the Shia Crescent. Within this scope, it analyses Tehran’s different stance towards the rebellion that has erupted against the Syria’s ruling party, the Nusayris [Alawis], and how iTehranhas supported the current regime in Damascus.
Topic:
Religion, Sectarianism, Social Movement, Arab Spring, and Shia
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, and Arab Countries