Making Sense of Turkey’s Foreign Policy from the Perspective of Neorealism

Oğuzlu T., Han A. K.

Uluslararasi Iliskiler, cilt.20, sa.78, ss.59-77, 2023 (SSCI, Scopus, TRDizin) identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 78
  • Basım Tarihi: 2023
  • Doi Numarası: 10.33458/uidergisi.1284178
  • Dergi Adı: Uluslararasi Iliskiler
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, IBZ Online, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Historical Abstracts, Index Islamicus, Political Science Complete, vLex, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, TR DİZİN (ULAKBİM)
  • Sayfa Sayıları: ss.59-77
  • Anahtar Kelimeler: foregin policy, International Relations Theory, polarity, Republic of Turkey, Structural realism
  • TED Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

This study singles out the impact of systemic and external factors on Turkey’s foreign policy from the establishment of the Republic until now. Such an exercise accords with a neorealist interpretation of foreign policy, as the key emphasis is on the impact of the anarchical nature of the external environment, and the influence of the distribution of material power capabilities among states at a given time on foreign policy preferences. This in no way suggests that the internal and individual level of factors holds a secondary place in comparison to systemic/external factors. Yet this article simply highlights the importance of systemic factors, for the main reason that neorealism seems to account for foreign policy choices and behaviors of middle powers more convincingly than in the case of great powers.