Turkey's New Geopolitics

With the astonishing transformations in the geopolitics of the world since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey has been profoundly affected by the changes on its periphery. For the first time since the beginning of the century, a Turkic world has blossomed, giving Turkey potential new foreign policy clout from the Balkans across the Caucasus and into Central Asia and Western China.These geopolitical opportunities have dramatically changed the character of Turkey itself, once an isolationist, Eurocentered NATO ally. At the same time, Turkey has undergone an internal evolution over the last decade, making it an attractive model of Middle Eastern development because of its increasingly free market, democratic governance, and secularist outlook.This book explores the character of the new Turkey, assessing its foreign policy options and interpreting the significance of those choices for the Middle East, Central Asia, Europe, and the United States.

Profoundly affected by the recent changes in geopolitics on its periphery, Turkey has the potential to exercise new foreign policy clout from the Balkans to Central Asia and Western China. These opportunities have also dramatically changed the character of Turkey itself, which is strengthening its free market system and broadening democracy within its borders. This book explores the character of the new Turkey, assessing its foreign policy options and interpreting the significance of these choices for other regions.

Graham E. Fuller is a senior political scientist at RAND. Ian O. Lesser is a member of the International Policy Department at RAND. Paul B. Henze is a resident consultant at RAND. J. F. Brown is a consultant at RAND and Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the RFE/RL (Radio Liberty) Research Institute in Munich.