Is Obama disregarding the United States’ moral values by shying away from closer involvement in the Arab Spring and subsequent negotiations between Egypt, Syria and Turkey? Or is he simply giving the Middle East a chance to sort out its own problems?
The destructive tsunami which wreaked untold devastation upon Japan can serve as a cautionary tale for the South Caucasus, by forcing Turkey and Armenia to engage in confidence-building measures and to remove the common danger of nuclear disaster. There is nothing to lose for either party; the chances are that they both stand to gain mutually from the deal.
Turkish-Russian rapprochement should not be viewed by the West as a menace or even irritant, but rather the platform upon which regional knots of contention might find resolution. The regional political landscape of western Eurasia has shifted dramatically in the past decade; we in the West would do well to adjust our perceptions accordingly.
The Greco-Turkish conflict is a product of long-standing traumatic experiences that are based on Stereotypical Images of the Enemy. Both share a complicated mechanism that promotes patriotism by systematically devaluing the “other” via selective education, literature and the media
Turkey’s EU accession bid has encouraged political actors in the EU Member States and institutions to consider which kind of organisation the EU is and should be. Opinion is divided between those who support a ‘civic’ identity for the EU, and those who argue that the EU needs a thicker ‘cultural’ identity.
The word neo-Ottomanism has never been used at the official level and, as one can be pretty certain, will never be openly heard from a Turkish official, unless perhaps by a Freudian slip. Nevertheless neo-Ottomanism is acquiring widespread usage and hence altered the basic tone of the Turkish foreign policy.
The recent Russian-Georgian conflict brought to the forefront several important international issues, not least the thorny problems concerning Russia’s energy clout and the European Union’s energy vulnerability. It became increasingly clear that Russia has no intention of becoming a passive or marginalised power. Simultaneously, current containment policy towards Iran is failing. . It is important that Iran be part of near-future investment programmes and arrangements – both economically and politically.
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