Mapping the Fault Lines in Turkey-US Relations: Making the Vulnerable Partnership

The book explores the nature of Turkey's partnership with the US over the last seventy years, challenging the false nostalgia about the "golden era" in the 1950s and offering a new conceptual framework called the "vulnerable partnership" to understand the current points of tension. It identifies key causes of vulnerability, including recurring frictions and faultlines involving the US Congress, public opinion, Russia, and crises in the Middle East.

Format: Hardback
Length: 328 pages
Publication date: 18 April 2024
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

For the past seventy years, scholars have been diligently endeavoring to define the intricate nature of Turkey's partnership with the United States. While Turkish-US relations have always been characterized by a certain degree of volatility, they experienced a brief period of "golden era" during the 1950s. However, this book argues that a misguided nostalgia surrounding that era has distorted the analyses of scholars and policymakers ever since. To provide a more accurate assessment, this book delves into the patterns of crises between the two countries throughout history and how these relate to the current points of tension in Turkish-American relations today. It introduces a novel conceptual framework to understand the Turkey-US partnership: the "vulnerable partnership."

The book outlines the primary causes of this vulnerability, revealing that recurring frictions and faultlines have persisted across different political periods. These particularly involve the US Congress, public opinion, Russia, and crises in the Middle East. Drawing upon a wealth of journalistic, archival, and scholarly sources, the book explores the multifaceted topic at the intersection of foreign policy studies, Middle East politics, the history of Turkish-American relations, and foreign policymaking.

In conclusion, this book offers a fresh perspective on the Turkey-US partnership, challenging the prevailing narratives and providing a more nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics that have shaped their relationship over the past seventy years. By examining the patterns of crises and exploring the underlying factors contributing to vulnerability, the book offers valuable insights for policymakers, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding the evolving dynamics of international relations in the Middle East and beyond.

Weight: 421g
Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780755650750