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1. The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game Foreign Policy Under the Assads, Bente Scheller

Author:
Jinan Bastaki
Publication Date:
10-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
How has the Syrian regime, being the 'odd man out' in the Middle East, survived for so many years under the Assads? Given its survival, what makes the current uprising, now nearing its third year, different? And did the Assads always act on ideological grounds? These are the central questions that scholar and foreign policy analyst Bente Scheller tries to answer in her book, The Wisdom of Syria's Waiting Game: Foreign Policy Under the Assads, by analyzing the Assads' foreign policy and the link to domestic policies and the current revolt.
Topic:
Foreign Policy and War
Political Geography:
Middle East, Lebanon, and Syria

2. The Borders of Islam: Exploring Samuel Huntingtons's Faultlines, from Al-Andalus to the Virtual Ummah

Author:
Numan Telci
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The Borders of Islam gives an insider's view of the so-called “Islam's bloody borders” through an examination of the countries that straddle two cultures/civilizations from across various regions. The book makes an enormous contribution to debates on “clash of civilizations” by critically examining various cases of war and conflict, which is one of the key elements of the thesis formulated by Samuel Huntington and popularized by the media. Hansen, Mesoy and Kardas take on Huntington's main thesis with an aim to falsify it. The book stands out as one of the strongest counter-arguments to the main premises of the clash of civilizations thesis. It does so by arguing that the clash sometimes is constructed, as is the case of various internal and external conflicts taking place in and around Iraq, or it neglects the division within the Islamic civilization, as is the case with Lebanon where the Sunnis have a different agenda than the Shiite Muslims, or that the clash between Muslims and Christians is not necessarily religiously-driven in Nigeria, Ethiopia or Sudan. While laying out this argument, the book sets out to understand whether religion could be considered as the most tangible source of conflicts involving groups that hold different religious faiths.
Political Geography:
Sudan, Lebanon, Ethiopia, and Nigeria

3. Turkey's Iran Policy: Between Diplomacy and Sanctions

Author:
Kadir Üstün
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passed the fourth round of sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran on June 9, 2010. Turkey, along with Brazil, voted in opposition to sanctions while Lebanon abstained from the vote. Turkey and Brazil's votes were particularly critical because they demonstrated a lack of unity within the international community. The rationale behind Brazil and Turkey's votes derived from the fact that the nuclear swap deal signed by Iran is, so far, the only concrete deal. It represents the only legal basis that the international community can build upon and hold Iran accountable. Although both countries' “no” votes were consistent with their diplomatic efforts, many analysts are criticizing Turkey in particular for not voting with its traditionally strong allies such as the US. Turkey's vote against the new round of sanctions represents an important milestone not because Turkey is abandoning its long-time allies but because Turkey is learning to make its own foreign policy calculations and decisions.
Topic:
Security, Foreign Policy, and Diplomacy
Political Geography:
United States, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, and Lebanon

4. Hezbollah: A Short History

Author:
Joseph Alagha
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The purpose of Augustus Richard Norton's book— authored by the co-editor of the "Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics" series—"is to offer a more balanced and nuanced account of this complex organization [Hizbullah]... an honest account of the leading Shi'i political party in Lebanon— Hezbollah". In spite of that, there seems to be nothing fundamentally new in Norton's book.
Political Geography:
Lebanon

5. Debating Turkey in the Middle East: The Dawn of a New Geo-Political Imagination?

Author:
Ibrahim Kalin
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Insight Turkey
Institution:
SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research
Abstract:
The interest Turkey has generated in the Arab world over the last few years is caused by the convergence of changes in Turkey, the Middle East and the global power-balance. Turkey's domestic political process, its new foreign policy and the EU membership process are closely followed in the larger Muslim world. The new configurations of power in the Middle East and the world at large lead to new types of geopolitical imagination. From Turkish soap operas and import products to Turkey's involvements in Lebanon and Palestine, Turkey is claiming a new space in the Arab public opinion in a manner never seen before. While AK Party's ties with the Arab and Muslim world are partly responsible for Turkey's renewed foreign policy activism in the region, the current debate is also reflective of the failures of the international system and heralds the advent of a new balance of power in Turkey's immediate neighborhood.
Topic:
Foreign Policy
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Palestine, Arabia, and Lebanon