From Realist Billiard Balls and Liberal Concentric Circles to Global IR’s Venn Diagram? Rethinking International Relations via Turkey’s Centennial

Authors : Nora FİSHER-ONAR

Pages : 97-118

Doi:10.33458/uidergisi.1298208

View : 93 | Download : 153

Publication Date : 2023-06-25

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :The Republic of Turkey continues to grapple with a foundational tension between isolationist impulses steeped in a nationalist, sovereigntist, i.e., realist outlook on the world, and what I call the “embedded liberalism” of the republican project. Yet, neither realism nor liberalism are sufficient, I show, to explain Turkey’s trajectory. Invoking three visions of the international system as envisaged in realism insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(billiard balls);, liberalism insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(concentric circles);, and global IR insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(which I conceptualize as a Venn diagram);, I argue that the last best captures insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(Turkey’s); challenges and opportunities. My contention is that global IR incorporates constructivist claims regarding historical and social forces in world politics, but also decenters Eurocentric notions of history and society. A timely way to read multipolarity, the approach supports relational learning regarding our overlapping challenges as humanity. Scholars in and of Turkey arguably have a comparative advantage in this space. This is due to their ability, albeit not always actualized, to read the world in plural terms — the epistemological equivalent of Turkey’s proverbial bridging role in world politics.
Keywords : history, collective identity, ontological security post, colonialism, multipolarity