Turkish Foreign Policy in a Changing World Order

Abstract

This article argues that there is a close relationship between the structureof the international system/order and how states define their foreign policyinterests and then act accordingly. The main contention is that Turkey’s foreignpolicy performance since 2002 can be partially read as Turkey’s effort toadapt to external developments at international and regional levels. As theinternational system has evolved from a unipolar order (in which the UnitedStates, in cooperation with its European allies, provided the main public goodsin an hegemonic fashion), into a post-unipolar era, Turkey has acceleratedits efforts to pursue a more multi-dimensional and multi-directional foreignapproach. Rather than arguing that there is a direct causation between theindependent variable of systemic factors and the dependent variable of Turkey’sforeign policy performance, this article understands the external environmentas a ‘context’ in which Turkish decision makers have responded to Turkey’sresponses to foreign policy developments.