Reevaluating The Sources And Fragility Of Turkey's Soft Power After The Arab Uprisings

Abstract

The rapid economic growth and prodemocratic political reforms of the 2000s had propelled Turkey to the position of a regional power as it was ranked 25th in the globe according to the 2010 Soft Power Index, rising to 20th by 2012 (McClory 2010, 2013). Since the beginning of the twenty-first century, international politics of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region has witnessed a dramatic transformation, and sudden changes have started to become the norm rather than the exception—particularly after the 2003 Second Gulf War and more so after the beginning of the 2011 uprisings. In response to the rapidly shifting geopolitical situation, Turkey has had to continuously reformulate its foreign policy. In this context, the possession of “soft power” has become a useful strategy for gaining more control over the outcome of international political issues, because it has become more difficult to compel international actors through the principal levers of hard power in our age.

Telif hakları gereğince yayın erişime kapalıdır. Yayın yayıncı tarafından erişime açık ise bağlantılar kısmından ulaşılabilmektedir.