Insight Turkey / issues

Guest Editor's Note | Winter 2019

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:25:00 GMT

Africa has often been the focus of contradictory attention that has oscillated between the labels of a physical obstacle to travel between Europe and the East, a geostrategic continent, a collection of failed or failing states, to now a geo-economically important continent with potentially viable markets because of its many and rapidly growing economies endowed with strategic minerals. With the dawn of the 21st century and the reality of strategic rivalry between the United States and China, coupled with the global involvement of middle and emerging powers in particular Russia, Japan, Turkey, Iran, and India many issues are coming to the fore. Africa is now experiencing a new “scramble” for its strategic minerals, the buying power of its growing middle class, its significant choke points, its diplomatic importance and growing influence in international organizations, among others.

Trade of China and India with Africa after the 2008 Financial Crisis

Thu, 07 Mar 2019 14:59:00 GMT

The paper analyses the trade competition between China and India in Africa over the period from 2008 to 2017. After the 2008 financial crisis, China increased its advantage over India in exports of goods to rich African countries and in imports of goods from resource-abundant Africa’s least developed countries. China-Africa and India-Africa trade relations are win-win relations. However, African countries are becoming more and more dependent on the condition of the Chinese economy. Compared to Chinese exports, Indian ones destroy fewer African markets.

China, Oil, and Africa: A New Perspective

Tue, 12 Mar 2019 16:42:00 GMT

This commentary provides insights into the evolving trajectories of China-Africa relations by drawing on a case study of the place of a strategic natural resource, oil, in the evolving relations. It unpacks the nature of China’s engagements with Africa’s oil-producing states and challenges the views of those who claim that emerging China-Africa relations are based on a “new colonial” scramble for Africa’s resources, particularly oil. The commentary advances an alternate view based on Africa’s agency in shaping its relations with China and posits that African petro-states and elites are in a position to determine if the outcome of oil engagements with China will connect to a project of national and continental development, or not.

Russia in Africa: A Search for Continuity in a Post-Cold War Era

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 11:01:00 GMT

This commentary proposes to connect Russia’s present activities in Africa to the history of Soviet involvement on the continent during the Cold War. While post-Soviet Russia pursues very difficult foreign policy objectives in its relations with African states, in doing so it often draws on the relationships, partnerships, and formal and informal networks forged during the Cold War. An enduring continuity can be observed in Russia’s ongoing efforts to present itself as an alternative to the West. In the past, the Soviet model of development tended to emphasize socialist modernization. Under Vladimir Putin, Russia has abandoned its promotion of socialism to pursue crude economic interests via its business elite, based on values that appear to be in stark contrast to the conventions of Western liberalism.

The U.S. War on Terror Discourse: Mapping De-politicization and the Politics of Confinement in Afghanistan

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 17:43:00 GMT

This article argues that today, 17 years after the September 11, 2001 attacks, it is even more important to look at the beginnings of, and to reinterpret, the U.S. “War on Terror” discourse. To do so, this article employs a poststructuralist Critical Discourse Analysis and it advances the debate around the notion of “evilization.” Drawing upon Foucault’s work on the history of madness, it develops the notion of the politics of confinement and situates it in the context of Afghanistan. The article notes that the politics of confinement is illiberalizing and oppressive, contradicting the idea of emancipation functioning behind the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. Thus, the contradictory discourse of the war in Afghanistan does not serve the purpose of victory as Trump envisages it.

Re-examining the “Base”: The Political and Security Dimensions of Turkey’s Military Presence in Somalia

Fri, 05 Oct 2018 22:59:00 GMT

In late 2017, Turkey opened a facility to train the Somali National Army. Routinely described as a military base since, the move has caused consternation within and beyond the region and is held up as proof that a new scramble for Africa is underway. By contextualizing this new military mission within Turkey’s wider role in Somalia, this article demonstrates why the term “base” is misleading and how training the SNA is consistent with Turkey’s foreign policy aims in the country. As the SNA becomes a more powerful security actor, the article also shows how it may be (mis) used, by whom, and for what purposes, and identifies the risks this might pose for Turkey, Somalia and the wider region.

Iran’s Scramble for Sub-Saharan Africa

Mon, 11 Mar 2019 11:26:00 GMT

Fueled by the Iranian oil revenues, Tehran, under both the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (1941-1979) and since 1979 the Islamic Republic of Iran, has intervened in the affairs of sub-Saharan Africa. The Shah’s policy was motivated by a ‘defensive’ anti-communist/anti-radicalism containment posture. Conversely, the Islamic Republic of Iran adopted an ‘offensive’ or disruptive policy to alter a political status quo deemed hostile to the survival of the Islamic Republic of Iran. To understand Iran’s scramble to secure its interests in sub-Saharan Africa, four periods will be examined in this analysis: i) the Shah and containment, 1953-1979; ii) the Islamic Republic of Iran’s diplomatic ‘offensive,’ 1980-2001; iii) the Islamic Republic of Iran seeking to ‘escape’ international isolation, 2002-2010; and iv) the Saudi-Iranian Cold War, 2011-2018.

The Work of Peace: History, Imperialism, and Peacekeeping

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 11:23:00 GMT

The size and complexity of recent peacebuilding mandates have led scholars to liken these efforts to imperialism, but most are quick to dismiss any deeper comparison. This article argues against such assumptions by using the 1884-1885 Berlin West Africa Conference and the Congo Free State crisis to show that the Scramble for Africa fits within the definition of multilateralism and that European imperialism was, at the time, also seen as a humanitarian endeavor. Peacebuilding and imperialism are very different enterprises, but acknowledging their connections enables peacekeepers to draw lessons from the imperial past and better understand its continued implications for the present. The article also considers how imperial scholarship can inform efforts to increase civic participation in peacebuilding as well as the way we think about and categorize peacebuilding in Africa.

Militarization and Securitization in Africa: The Role of Sino-American Geostrategic Presence

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 11:56:00 GMT

This article is predicated on the argument that the African continent has become a focus of geopolitical and economic attention, especially as a locus of Sino-American rivalry and to some extent cooperation. Accordingly, Sino-American presence in Africa has resulted in: (i) the militarization and securitization of Africa impelled by the war on terrorism and the need to protect vested political and economic interests; (ii) the continent becoming a theater for the interplay of differences between American and Chinese militarization and securitization; and (iii) the inevitable and rare cases of military and security cooperation between the two powers on the continent. The article probes how and why the two powers have militarized and securitized the continent, the activities that constitute militarization and securitization, and prospects for further militarization and securitization in the context of both rivalry and minimal cooperation.

Cloud on the Horizon: African Migration, Transnationalism, and Social Osmosis

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 12:19:00 GMT

This paper argues that the factors that induce transcontinental and intercontinental African migration are complex and cannot be reduced to simplistic generalizations. It states that Africa’s transcontinental and transnational migratory phenomena from the medieval period to the post-modern era were a two-way street. While Africans migrated abroad, the continent has also continuously served as a magnet for migrants from other continents. Thus, despite the exaggerated portrayal of African migration to Europe and North America, the available data sources show that transcontinental and transnational African migration is microscopic compared to the global migratory trend.

Terrorism in Africa: The Rise of Islamist Extremism and Jihadism

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 14:17:00 GMT

Africa is the springboard for al-Qaeda’s global terrorism in modern history. The U.S. Embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya in August 1998 put al-Qaeda on the map and led to major counter-terrorism operations throughout parts of Africa. Bin Laden made a strategic decision to use Africa as a launching pad for al-Qaeda’s global network and appeal. The linkages of Jihadist terrorism in Africa trace back to the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Today, al-Qaeda and ISIS continue to use Africa as an important locale of operations. If improvements in human security, economies, politics, education, conflict resolution, and wealth distribution are not addressed, then the continent will continue to experience history repeating itself involving Jihadist terrorism in Africa.

No Questions Asked? Development and the Paradox of China’s Africa Policy

Wed, 13 Mar 2019 14:40:00 GMT

This paper argues that China’s strategy of engaging African countries through its stated “no questions asked” foreign policy could ultimately be counter-productive for Chinese interests on the continent. Whereas the policy allows China to engage Africa’s authoritarian dictators and democrats alike as it invests in energy, infrastructure, mining, and other projects without many restraints or preconditions; opposition groups across the continent have seized upon its presumed support for unpopular incumbent regimes to stir opposition to China among Africa’s masses during recent elections. Unless China’s policymakers modify their Africa policy, China’s investments in Africa are ironically producing the conditions of development, such as the proliferation of cheap cellphone technology and an expanding African middle class, alongside increasingly dissenting voices over their strategy and presence in Africa.

Kurdish Politics in the Middle East: The Role of the PKK’s Changing Policy in Regional Politics

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 11:34:00 GMT

The transformation of the discourses of the PKK since the 2000s is placed virtually at the center of Middle East politics as they relate to the Kurdish issue. Particularly, the Syrian civil war and the role of PYD, which is the Syrian branch of the PKK, have made the ideological and discursive evolution of the PKK, and the ways in which this evolving discourse has been implemented, one of the most interesting topics for scholars to elaborate.

Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:02:00 GMT

A profound understanding of American foreign policy depends upon a thorough and a rigorous theoretical understanding of the ideology that stimulates and determines it. Liberalism claims that spreading liberal democracy across the world can be accomplished through an open international economy and international institutions that promote peace in the international system. Throughout his mainly theoretical contribution, John Mearsheimer argues that on the contrary, liberal democracy harms the U.S. and the international system.

We Kill Because We Can: From Soldiering to Assassination in the Drone Age

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 12:42:00 GMT

Drone usage has been a hotbed of discussion in International Relations and Military Studies for the last decade. Drone warfare itself has been rapidly transforming through a process that started with the implementation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) to the battlefield.

Into the Hands of the Soldiers: Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 13:04:00 GMT

A New York Times correspondent in Egypt, David Kirkpatrick focuses his book Into the Hands of the Soldiers on the 2011-2013 Egyptian revolution, the occurrences after the collapse of the authoritative regime of Hosni Mubarak, and the reasons behind the Arab Spring in the Middle East, specifically in Egypt. At the center of the conflict in Egypt between state and public, there is an army that controls the whole process of power transformation.

Guardians of the Arab State: When Militaries Intervene in Politics, from Iraq to Mauritania

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 13:53:00 GMT

The role of the militaries in politics in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has been one of the most popular issues among scholars and researchers focusing on the Middle East politics since the Arab Uprisings erupted against the autocrats. It is a common assumption that the autocrats in the MENA ruled for decades with the support of the militaries

Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices (8th Edition)

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:09:00 GMT

Thoroughly researched, insightful and well into its eighth edition, Political Campaign Communication: Principles and Practices is a seminal text for anyone interested in a comprehensive understanding of electoral campaigning and the communication strategies undertaken therein. This is book is a part of the series titled Communication, Media, and Politics edited by Robert E. Denton, Jr. that aims at understanding the role played by communications in the broad domain of politics.

Yemen and the Gulf States: The Making of a Crisis

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:05:00 GMT

Yemen and the Gulf States: The Making of a Crisis, an edited volume by Helen Lackner and Daniel Martin Varisco, provides six chapters presented in a workshop on Yemeni issues at the Gulf Research Meeting 2016 held in Cambridge, UK.

The Challenge of Ethnic Democracy: The State and Minority Groups in Israel, Poland and Northern Ireland

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:16:00 GMT

In the midst of political discussions over Israel’s controversial Jewish Nation-state Law adopted in July, re-examining Israel’s alleged ethnic democracy becomes more pivotal. In the late 1980s, the Israeli sociologist Sammy Smooha conceptualized the concept of ethnic democracy, and considered Israel as an archetype. Yoav Peled, author of The Challenge of Ethnic Democracy, was one of the Israeli scholars to accept identifying Israel as an ethnic democracy, albeit with reservations regarding the stability of this political system.

Political Islam in Tunisia: The History of Ennahda

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:20:00 GMT

The Middle East is a region of far-reaching importance due to past and current events in global politics. Of the many different dynamics and factors that affect the situation of the Middle East, Islam is especially crucial. Many scholars have recently focused on Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, and how they affect the Middle East and beyond.

From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity

Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:29:00 GMT

The Westphalian process and the subsequent Reformation and Enlightenment periods put a distance between religion and political science in Western thought for more than 300 years.

The New Political Islam: Human Rights, Democracy and Justice

Fri, 15 Mar 2019 13:00:00 GMT

After September 11, Islamophobic approaches in society have become more widespread, and have been observed to appear more regularly. However, Western intellectuals have worked to maintain objectivity in their studies, which may contribute to eradicating this unfair perception.