CIAO DATE: 12/2008
Volume: 4, Issue: 13
Spring 2007
Editorial
Discussions on Identity and Multiculturalism from Modernity to Post-Modernity
M. Zeki Duman
This study considers how and why national identities emerge over against monopolistic policies of global hegemony. It will also analyse the epistemic and ontological presuppositions of the modern and post-modern approaches which are intended to overcome identity crises. Various dimensions and dangers of multicultural policies, which are offered as prescriptions by postmodernists for solving the problems of cultural conflict, will also be analysed. Nation-state models, as political forms of modernity, attempted to create a homogeneous national consciousness by dissolving sub-identities within a strong national identity. Postmodern rhetoric, using the same strategy, utilized ideological mystification. This resulted in the fragmentation of strong national identity and the destruction of social order and integration due to an exaggerated emphasis on a particular ego and cultural identity.
A Friendlier Schengen Visa System as a Tool of 'Soft Power': The Experience of Turkey
Kemal Kirisci
In this paper, it is argued that Turkey's geographical location, accompanied by the extensive commercial, cultural and social relations that have developed since the end of the Cold War between Turkey and its immediate neighbourhood, provides an opportunity for the EU to consider formulating a more flexible Schengen visa policy that can also be in harmony with efforts to develop the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Such a policy can also ease the economic and political costs of Turkey's integration into the EU. This need not necessarily lead to compromising security and border control. The advocates of Turkish membership often stress the potential of Turkey in assisting a process of bridge building between Europe and the world beyond Europe. A modified and better calibrated Turkish visa regime and a Schengen visa system that is able to adjust itself to the lessons of the Turkish experience could become a pillar of that bridge building effort and hence of the ENP too.
The Policies of Ankara and Berlin toward the Bosnian War: A Comparative Analysis
Birgül Demirtas-Coskun
This study analyses the foreign policies of Turkey and Germany toward the Bosnian War, that took place between 1992-1995, in a comparative perspective. Both states had to face an identity crisis in the wake of the phasing out of the bipolar system. Whilst Turkey, all of a sudden, lost its former status within the Western Bloc, Germany could be reunified in a relatively short period of time. The war in Bosnia took place at the very time when an important discussion was continuing about the new position of these aforementioned countries. In view of traditional International Relations theories Turkey, on the one hand, was expected to focus on its internal problems; Germany, on the other hand, was foreseen to pursue an active foreign policy thanks to the new dynamism acquired by reunification. However, what happened in the case of Bosnia was, in fact, the reverse. The main argument of this study is that one of the main factors shaping the foreign policies of Ankara and Berlin toward Bosnia was the ultimate intention to maintain their former state identities in the new era.
International Relations Curricula in Turkish Universities
E. Fuat Keyman, N. Esra Ülkü
Problems of Graduate Education in Turkish International Relations Discipline
Gencer Özcan
Politics, Division and Transformation in Turkish Foreign Policy Literature
Ilhan Uzgel
Criteria for Appointment and Promotion as a Way to Solve Quality Problem
Ilter Turan
Think-Tanks in Turkey and Discipline of International Relations
Serhat Güvenç
Media and International Politics
Erdem Denk
Jan H. Kalicki And David L. Goldwyn (Eds.), Energy And Security Toward A New Foreign Policy Strategy
Volkan Özdemir