Contending with authoritarian Turkey – a measured realist perspective
This obsession with personalities can fuel the very passions and tensions that such individuals feed on, and obscure the underlying factors that explain their rise... Read More
A sad day for Turkey
To be sure, it is a sad day for the Turkish people, who are witnessing with fear and deep trepidation how their dream of living... Read More
The looming end to the Western-Turkish alliance
It is now left to the Turkish people who want a secular and democratic Turkey with Islamic values to say NO in the April 16... Read More
Erdogan – the Sultan of an illusionary Ottoman Empire
This is the fourth and last in a series of articles based in part on eyewitness accounts about the rapidly deteriorating socio-political conditions in Turkey... Read More
Erdogan exploits Islam for personal and political gain
This is the third in a series of articles based in part on eyewitness accounts about the rapidly deteriorating socio-political conditions in Turkey and what... Read More
Erdogan – a classic case of how power corrupts
This is the second in a series of articles based in part on eyewitness accounts about the rapidly deteriorating socio-political conditions in Turkey and what... Read More
Erdogan’s lust for power is destroying Turkey’s democracy
This is the first in a series of articles based in part on eyewitness accounts about the rapidly deteriorating socio-political conditions in Turkey and what... Read More
Erdogan’s war on women
Kurdish women in one of the strongest and most radical women’s movements in the world are taking a battering from the Turkish state with impunity... Read More
Questions and answers about some of the raging events in the Middle East
Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, answers some questions concerning the turmoil in the Middle East and America’s... Read More
Is it over for Turkish democracy? Implications for regional peace
As the Erdogan government presses for a more authoritarian regime and curtails civil freedoms at home, Turkish foreign policy takes an increasingly hawkish direction. Turkey’s democracy... Read More
Turkey and the PKK – mutual violence is not the answer
It is time for Erdogan to accept the reality that the solution to the Kurdish problem rests solely on peace negotiations. Anything short of that... Read More
Turkey’s elected dictator
Whereas Erdogan viewed the failed coup as a God-sent opportunity to wipe out whoever is perceived to be his enemy, the US and the EU... Read More
Is Turkey’s failed coup an opportunity to reinvigorate peace talks?
The post-coup political environment could provide a ripe moment to reinstate the peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdish movement.
Deradicalization in refugee camps and beyond
Host countries cannot be long on talking and short on funding. Any government committed to deradicalizing young men and women must invest, along with private... Read More
Goodbye Mr. Zero Problems – the end of the Davutoglu era in Turkish foreign policy
The Davutoglu-era will be remembered as a missed opportunity in Turkish foreign policy. Expectations exceeded the political capacity of an emerging power to the point... Read More
If you can’t beat them, ‘like’ them
States should use the increasing power of social media networks and work with them to achieve foreign policy objectives.
How Turkey became a de facto dictatorship
The Turkish people should once again take to the streets but this time around they should remain persistent until Erdogan relents or resigns. Otherwise, Turkey... Read More
The global crisis of leadership
Yes, leaders are a reflection of their time, and people the world over might have finally reached the breaking point. Their cry for trusting, caring, and... Read More
When it comes to settling migrants, the Mideast must do it
Merkel should acknowledge the pragmatic obstacles to humanitarianism in Europe and call for massive investment in refugee settlements in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey.
The unraveling of Turkey’s democracy
Failing to make the right choice, Erdogan will not be remembered as the father of the new democratic and powerful nation, but as the misguided... Read More
Turkish democracy – an unfortunate casualty of Erdogan’s ambitions in Syria and Turkey?
What is more tragic is Europe’s ambivalent response to Turkey’s ongoing crackdown on political freedoms, as Brussels struggles to find a solution to its own... Read More
Mistakes were made – part II
The US is now in the process of choosing its next president. Everyone – in America and beyond – should insist that all the candidates... Read More
Erdogan’s fall from grace
Erdogan’s dream to preside as President during Turkey’s one hundredth anniversary in 2023 with near-absolute power and become the Atatürk of modern Turkey has now... Read More
Turkey’s unique democracy vetoes ‘New Turkey’ and its foreign policy agenda
The ‘New Turkey’ concept suggested a neo-conservative agenda that had three basic tenets in its foreign policy orientation: balancing Israel in the Middle East, stopping... Read More
Prospects for a future Kurdistan
A future independent Kurdish state faces many political, economic, and administrative challenges, but its success could be a game-changer in the Middle East.
