scholarly journals Islam and Foreign Policy: Turkey’s Ambivalent Religious Soft Power in the Authoritarian Turn

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erdi Ozturk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Justice And Development Party ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Base Of Support ◽  
Eastern And Western Europe ◽  
At Home

Although the pro-democracy agenda of Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) gained significant domestic and international credibility throughout the early 2000s, the party has, since approximately 2010, experienced a dramatic process of democratic decline. The AKP has intensively used Islamist policies at home and abroad to consolidate its base of support under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Weaponised in foreign policy, Islam has become both an instrument and an objective of the repressive AKP, and Turkey has emerged as a front runner in a race among countries increasingly using religion as a foreign policy tool. This new role for Turkey has created a slew of disparate perceptions among foreign countries. While some are content with Turkey’s religiously fuelled policies and designate Turkey as an influential actor which can use Islam as a soft power tool, others refuse to define Turkey’s policies within the boundaries of soft power due to its extra-territorial authoritarian practices. This study defines Turkey’s Islamic soft power as ambivalent and scrutinises the reasons behind this ambiguity by exploring examples from other countries in South-eastern and Western Europe.

scholarly journals The Ambivalence of Turkish Soft Power in Southeast Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-128
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Humanitarian Aid ◽  
The State ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Justice And Development Party ◽  
Sunni Islam

With the instrumentalisation of Islam via the state apparatuses in foreign policy, Sunni Islam has become both an instrument and a purpose of the repressive Justice and Development Party and Turkey has started to be one of the front runners of countries who are increasingly competing for using Islam as a foreign policy tool. This relatively new role of Turkey has created various diverging ideas among the host countries where Turkey is active. While some countries are rather content with Turkey’s religiously fueled policies and humanitarian aid, and define Turkey as one of the most influential actors which can use religion as a soft power tool, others refuse to define Turkey’s policies within the boundaries of religious soft power due to its extra-territorial authoritarian practices and instrumentalisation of religion for these. Under these circumstances, this study defines Turkey’s religious soft power as an ambivalent one and scrutinises the reasons behind this ambiguity via exploring some country cases from Southeast Europe.

scholarly journals South Africa’s Military and Peacekeeping Efforts: A new paradigm shift in its foreign policy since 1994

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 157-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toyin Cotties Adetiba
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Democratic Governance ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Policy Agendas

One of the South Africa's great soft power attributes has been the attraction and power of its transition to inclusive democratic governance after a long period of apartheid rule. This gave South Africa a certain moral authority and prestige to play very significant roles in conflict resolution and mediation through peacekeeping operations. Every government in an ever-changing and dynamic geopolitical environment ensure that its defence force cum foreign policy conform to the international environment while aiming at the defence and protection of its national interests. Using interpretive approach; this work argues that; fundamentally, there are three basic factors that reinforce South Africa’s participation in peacekeeping which are politics, economy and security. By extension these three elements is considered a transformational agent of South Africa’s economy. SANDF is, therefore, considered a dynamic and exceptional foreign policy tool that complements and at same time enhances South Africa’s diplomatic manoeuvrings and influence within the wider international developments. It is concluded that South Africa’s multilateral and foreign policy agendas have been driven by the pursuit of its national interest while trying to ensure peace in other African states. 

scholarly journals Nepal’s military diplomacy: Retrospect and prospect

Unity Journal ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 120-125
Author(s):  
Pragya Ghimire
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
National Security ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Civil Military Relations ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Survival And Development ◽  
Military Relations ◽  
Military Diplomacy

Military diplomacy has been an important security and foreign policy tool for many centuries. However, in the age of globalization, its importance has grown more rapidly than ever because of the recognition that country’s survival and development also depend on a peaceful and stable national and regional environment. Some of the significant practices in the past reflect that various tools of military diplomacy could be implemented to strengthen country’s overall diplomacy, including bilateral and multi-lateral contacts of military and civilian defence officials of foreign countries; preparing bilateral/multilateral security and defence agreements; exchanging experience with foreign military and civilian defence officials; providing military assistance and support to other countries, such as aid, materials and equipment when there is need and request during the disaster or humanitarian crises. However, these tools of strengthening military diplomacy will not be as effective as expected if there is no effective civil-military relations and synergies between a country’s national security and foreign policy. Moreover, it will require strong expertise and good command of civilian diplomats on security issues and military diplomats on foreign policy issues. To strengthen its military diplomacy to contribute to Nepal’s overall diplomacy and foreign policy, it will require more military attaché in Nepal foreign diplomatic missions of vital security and development interest. Moreover, Nepal should continue building synergies between its national security, foreign and development policies as well as strengthening military diplomacy both at bilateral and regional levels.

Justice and Development Party’s Understanding of Democracy and Democratisation: Cultural Relativism and the Construction of the West as the ‘Other’

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 308-323
Author(s):  
Birgül Demirtaş
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
Cultural Relativism ◽  
The Other ◽  
The West ◽  
Reverse Wave ◽  
Arab Uprisings ◽  
Coup Attempt ◽  
At Home

The perception of Turkey as a model of attractive country in the region has started to change in the recent years. In the first decade of the JDP rule Turkey was seen as an emerging power with its strong economy, improving democracy and inspiring foreign policy. However, the developments since the Arab Uprisings in the neighbourhood, Gezi movement at home, end of the Kurdish peace process, as well as coup attempt and subsequent de-democratisation harmed the soft power of Turkey. This study argues that the JDP’s understanding of democracy and democratisation has been full of flaws from the very beginning of its rule. The Turkish example shows that countries can experience subsequent processes of de-democratisation and de-democratisation if governing parties did not endogenise the basic norms of democracy. Therefore, it is argued that the reverse wave of de-democratisation characterises Turkey more than the “selective” processes of democratisation. It is also argued that JDP elite via its discourse has been constructing the West as the ‘Other’.

scholarly journals Cultural Projects in Implementation of South Korea's Soft Power Strategies, the Case of the Korea-Russia Dialogue Forum

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 36-45
Author(s):  
I. V. Tsoy ◽  
◽  
P. I. Zaynullina ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Visual Arts ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Korean Language ◽  
The North ◽  
Foreign Countries ◽  
Power Strategies ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
The Republic

The purpose of this study is to determine the role of cultural projects run by the Korea-Russia Dialogue Forum (KRD) in terms of the implementation of South Korea's foreign policy objectives using a soft power strategy. The tasks of the study were: to substantiate the importance of cultural initiatives in terms of soft power, to systematize and describe KRD projects in various spheres (literature, festivals, visual arts, cultural studies), to identify priority strategic vectors of South Korea’s foreign policy basing on the material considered. The structure of the work corresponds to the research objective setting. As a result of the analysis, several conclusions have been drawn. For instance, it was found out that the interaction between Russia and the Republic of Korea was characterized by horizontal ties between societies ("from civil ties to politics" vector). The research highlights the following soft power strategic tasks: the popularization of the Korean language in the world in general and in Russia in particular, the worldwide promotion of Korean cultural brands, the consolidation of the national community in foreign countries, and support for the implementation of the foreign policy tasks, specifically related to the process of tackling the North Korean issue. The Republic of Korea’s cultural projects can therefore be considered not only as culture related ones, but more extensively as a tool for pursuing the foreign interests of the state as well.

CONCEPT Of “FINNO-UGRIC WORLD”: CENTRIFUGAL TRENDS AND IMPACT ON HOME AND FOREIGN POLICY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 226-234
Author(s):  
Волкова ◽  
Alina Volkova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Volga Region ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Modern Russian

In the article the stages of institutionalization of the key united organizations of the Finno-Ugric world are examined. The impact on the process of identification of the peoples living on the territory of the national republics of the Volga region, Karelia and others from the countries of Western Europe is shown. The viability of the concept "Finno-Ugric world" in modern Russian Federation is revealed . The use of "soft power" in the development of the concept "Finno-Ugric world" is presented.

scholarly journals Diyanet as a Turkish Foreign Policy Tool: Evidence from the Netherlands and Bulgaria

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 624-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk ◽  
Semiha Sözeri
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Turkish Foreign Policy ◽  
Engagement Strategies ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
At Home

AbstractHow does Turkey's Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) act as an instrument of foreign policy (FP)? What are the factors that allow such an instrumentalization of Islam in Turkish FP? In addressing these questions, this paper uses semi-structured expert interviews from Bulgaria and the Netherlands. Although both countries host a sizeable Muslim minority, these populations differ in their characteristics and historical ties with Turkey. ComparingDiyanet’s role in the Netherlands with its recent Turkish-Muslim diaspora, and in Bulgaria with its centuries-old Muslim minority allows us to reveal variation in the practical engagement strategies that Diyanet adopts in different country contexts. Thus, this paper advances two main claims; first,Diyanetserves as a primary FP tool of Turkey in countries with a significant Turkish-Muslim minority. Secondly, this instrumentalization destabilizes secularization projects both at home and abroad.

scholarly journals A Frame for Turkey’s Foreign Policy via the Diyanet in the Balkans

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmet Erdi Öztürk ◽  
İştar Gözaydın
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Justice And Development Party ◽  
State Apparatus ◽  
Local Actors ◽  
The Government

Abstract This article deals with Turkey’s increasing involvement and activism in the Balkans between 2002 and 2016, under the government of the Justice and Development Party. The central focus is Turkey’s pliable state apparatus; the Presidency of Religious Affairs and its activities in the region. The article therefore aims to answer the following questions: Why does Turkey use these various state apparatuses specifically as a foreign policy tool and how does their influence differ from country to country? What factors determine the scope of activity of Turkish transnational state apparatuses in the case of each country? And, how do local actors and public opinion respond to Turkey’s newly-emerging activities in the region?

scholarly journals Securitization of Memory Politics and Identity Politics as Academic and Political Tools

2020 ◽  
pp. 73-76
Author(s):  
L.A. Fadeeva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Soft Power ◽  
Political Struggle ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Memory Politics ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Scientific Analysis ◽  
Academic Publications ◽  
Research Findings

The article discusses securitization of memory politics and identity politics as a part of academic tools and some kind of political tools. The author characterizes the process of securitization analyzing both academic and political discourse of the last decade. The securitization of the politics of memory and identity, as well as the politicization of history are reflected in academic publications and political declarations, pouring out into hot discussions, debates, wars of memory, struggle of identities. Research findings can create basis for a political turn or a new foreign policy course. Securitization puts the category of identity in the context of international security while identity politics could be used as a soft power element or foreign policy tool. There has been a turn towards defining identity politics as a concrete ideological weapon that can be used against opponents in the ideological and political struggle. This significantly changes meaning of identity politics. The author considers that in scientific analysis it is advisable to avoid extreme politization of identity.

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