Realist Kuram Çerçevesinde Amerika Birleşik Devletleri’nin İstihbarat Faaliyetlerinin Retrospektif Analizi

Abstract

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Soğuk Savaş dönemi başta olmak üzere, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri (ABD)’nin stratejik çıkarlarını savunmak ve gücünü artırmak amacıyla yürüttüğü propaganda kampanyalarını ve istihbarat toplama faaliyetlerini analiz etmektir. Bu kapsamda, Soğuk Savaş dönemi ve sonrasında ABD’nin istihbarat kurumu olan CIA’nin ve diğer istihbarat birimlerinin dünya genelinde yürüttüğü gizli operasyonlar, medya üzerinden yayılan ideolojik mesajlar ve kültürel diplomasi örnekleri, ABD’nin stratejik çıkarlarını güvence altına almak için kullandığı araçlardır. Bu çalışmada, ABD'nin Orta Doğu’daki askeri müdahaleleri, 11 Eylül sonrası terörle mücadele politikaları ve internetin küresel iletişimde artan rolü de incelenerek, bu faaliyetlerin uluslararası ilişkilerdeki yeri ve sonuçları değerlendirilecektir. Bu çalışma, ABD’nin uluslararası arenada güç ve çıkar odaklı hareket eden bir devlet olarak uyguladığı propaganda ve istihbarat faaliyetlerinin etkileri incelenecektir. Bu makalenin kuramsal temeli realist kuram çerçevesinde yapılandırılmış, metodu ise karşılaştırmalı tarihsel analiz yöntemleri çerçevesinde ilerlemiştir. Çalışmanın en önemli çıkarımı ise ABD'nin propaganda ve istihbarat faaliyetlerinin güç mücadelesi ve ulusal çıkarlar doğrultusunda stratejik bir araç olarak kullanıldığı yönündedir.

Keywords

• Amerika Birleşik Devletleri (ABD)
• Realizm
• İstihbarat
• Soğuk Savaş Dönemi
• Devlet

A Retrospective Analysis of U.S. Intelligence Activities within the Framework of Realist Theory

Abstract

This study aims to analyze the propaganda campaigns and intelligence-gathering activities carried out by the United States (USA) to defend its strategic interests and enhance its power, especially during the Cold War period. In this context, covert operations conducted by the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies worldwide during and after the Cold War, ideological messages disseminated through the media, and practices of cultural diplomacy are examined as key tools used by the United States to secure its strategic interests. The study also examines U.S. military interventions in the Middle East, counterterrorism policies implemented after September 11, and the increasing role of the Internet in global communication. The place and consequences of these activities in international relations will be evaluated. It evaluates the effects of U.S. propaganda and intelligence activities as instruments of power- and interest-oriented state behavior in the international arena. The study is theoretically grounded in realist theory and methodologically based on comparative historical analysis. The study concludes that U.S. propaganda and intelligence activities function as strategic tools in the pursuit of power struggles and national interests.

Keywords

• United States of America (USA)
• Realism
• Intelligence
• Cold War Period
• State

References

1. ALDRICH, Richard (2002), “Dangerous Liaisons: Post-September 11 Intelligence Alliances”, Harvard International Review, S.24(3), ss.50-55.
2. ALDRICH, Richard (2009), “US–European Intelligence Co-Operation on Counter-Terrorism: Low Politics and Compulsion”, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, S.11(1), ss.122-139.
3. APNEWS (2025), “Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him About Staff Loyalty”, E-Haber, https://apnews.com/article/trump-waltz-laura-loomer-national-security-council-959b718b04b240c5c8ba3736b4d8aa62 (Erişim Tarihi: 03.11.2025).
4. ATAÇ, Kaan ve TEZCANLAR, Ali (2022), “Örtülü Eylemler: Amerikan Dış Politikasının Gizli Eli ve Nikaragua Örneği”, Anadolu Strateji Dergisi, S.4(1), ss.39-51.
5. BEHR, Hartmut ve HEATH, Amelia (2009), “Misreading in IR Theory and Ideology Critique: Morgenthau, Waltz, and Neo-Realism”, Review of International Studies, S.35(2), ss.327-349.
6. BOOTH, Ken (2011), Realism and World Politics, Routledge Press, London.
7. BROOKINGS (2024), “AI Policy Directions in the New Trump Administration”, Brookings, https://www.brookings.edu/articles/ai-policy-directions-in-the-new-trump-administration/ (Erişim Tarihi: 03.11.2025).
8. CARR, Edward H. (1946), The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919-1939: An Introduction to the Study of International Relations, Macmillan Press, London.

9. COX, Robert (1981), “Social Forces, States and World Orders: Beyond International Relations Theory”, Millennium - Journal of International Studies, S.10(2), ss.126-155.
10. CULL, Nicholas J. (2008), The Cold War and the United States Information Agency: American Propaganda and Public Diplomacy, 1945-1989, Cambridge University Press, London.
11. DONNELLY, Jack (2000), Realism and International Relations, Cambridge University Press, London.
12. ERGÜVEN, N. Sibel (2016), “Uluslararası Hukuk Açısından Güvenlik Kavramının Teorik Temelleri”, Ankara Üniversitesi Hukuk Fakültesi Dergisi, S.65(3), ss.771-836.
13. ERKMEN, Serhat (2021), Uluslararası Güvenlik ve İstihbarat, Nobel Akademik Yayınları, Ankara.
14. GADDIS, John L. (2005), The Cold War: A New History, Penguin Press, New York.
15. GARTHOFF, Raymond L. (2005), A Journey Through the Cold War: A Memoir of Containment and Coexistence, Brookings Institution Press, Washington.
16. GILPIN, Robert (1981), War and Change in World Politics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
17. GILPIN, Robert ve GILPIN, Jean M. (2001), Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
18. GODSON, Roy (2011), Dirty Trick or Trump Card: U.S. Covert Action and Counterintelligence, Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick and London.
19. GUTMAN, Roy (1988), Banana Diplomacy: The Making of American Policy in Nicaragua 1981-1987, Simon & Schuster Publishing, New York.
20. HALLIDAY, Fred (1984), The Making of the Second Cold War, Verso Press, London.
21. HERZ, John H. (1950), “Idealist Internationalism and the Security Dilemma”, World Politics, S.2(2), ss.157-180.
22. HOBBES, Thomas (1995), Leviathan, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul, 2. Baskı.
23. HOGAN, Michael J. (1987), The Marshall Plan: America, Britain and the Reconstruction of Western Europe, 1947-1952, Cambridge University Press, London.
24. IKENBERRY, G. John (2001), After Victory: Institutions, Strategic Restraint, and the Rebuilding of Order After Major Wars, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
25. JOWETT, Garth S. ve O’DONNELL, Victoria (2019), Propaganda & Persuasion, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.
26. JONES, Jeffreys (2023), Karanlık ve Sorunlarla Dolu Bir Tarihe Yapılan Derin Bir Dalış: CIA 1947-2022 Tarihi, Kronik Kitap, İstanbul.
27. KALYON, Levent (2010), “Truman Doktrini Üzerine Bir Analiz”, Güvenlik Stratejileri Dergisi, S.6(11), ss.7-26.
28. KAPCIA, Antoni (1994), “What Went Wrong? The Sandinista Revolution”, Bulletin of Latin American Research, S.13(3), ss.311-318.
29. KETTELL, Steven (2011), New Labour and the New World Order: Britain’s Role in the War on Terror, MUP, Manchester.
30. KINDLEBERGER, Charles P. (1973), The World in Depression, 1929-1939, University of California Press, Berkeley.
31. KISSINGER, Henry (1994), The Transformation of American Foreign Policy, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
32. KUPPERMAN, Robert H. ve TAYLOR, William J. (1985), “Low Intensity Conflict: The Strategic Challenge”, American Defense Annual 1985 (Ed. George E. Hudson ve Joseph J. Kruzel), D.C. Heath and Company, Lexington, ss.252–262.
33. LANDER, Stephen (2009), “International Intelligence Cooperation: An Inside Perspective”, Secret Intelligence (Ed. Clements, Andrew, Richard J. Aldrich, Wesley K. Wark), Routledge Press, London, ss.162-176.
34. LINKLATER, Andrew (2000), Beyond Realism and Marxism: Critical Theory and International Relations, MacMillan Press, Basingstoke - London.
35. LOBELL, Steven E. (2010), Structural Realism: Offensive and Defensive Realism, Oxford University Press, London.
36. LOWENTHAL, Mark (2008), Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, CQ Press, Washington, D.C.
37. MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò (1994), Prens, Anahtar Kitaplar Yayınevi, İstanbul.
38. MEARSHEIMER, John J. (2001), The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
39. MEARSHEIMER, John J. ve WALT, Stephen M. (2017), İsrail Lobisi ve Amerikan Dış Politikası, Küre Yayınları, İstanbul.
40. MORGENTHAU, Hans J. (1948), Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, Alfred A. Knopf, University of Chicago, New York.
41. MORGENTHAU, Hans J. (1993), Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace, McGraw-Hill, New York.
42. O’ROURKE, Lindsey A. (2018), Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold War, Cornel Studies in Security Affairs, Cornell University Press, New York.
43. ORAN, Baskın (2002), Türk Dış Politikası 1919-1980, İletişim Yayınları, Ankara.
44. PACKER, George (2005), The Assassin’s Gate: America in Iraq, Straus and Giroux, New York.
45. PHYTHIAN, Mark (2009), “Shared World or Separate Worlds? International Theory and Theories of International Relations”, Intelligence Theory: Key Questions and Debates (Ed. Peter Gill, Stephen Marrin, Mark Phythian), Routledge Press, London, ss.70-89.
46. PİRİNÇÇİ, Ferhat (2013), Uluslararası İlişkiler Kuramları 2, Anadolu Üniversitesi Yayınları, Eskişehir.
47. POLITICO (2024), “The Prospect of a Second Trump Presidency Has the Intelligence Community on Edge”, Politico, https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02/26/trump-intelligence-agency-national-security-00142968 (Erişim Tarihi: 03.11.2025).
48. PRADOS, John (2006), Safe for Democracy: The Secret Wars of the CIA, Ivan R. Dee, New York.
49. PRENTICE, Andrew (2012), Secret Files Lift Lid on Thatcher-Reagan Falklands Contacts, Reuters News, London.
50. RHODRI, Jefreeys (2023), CIA Tarihi 1947-2022: Amerikan Gizli Servisi ve Faaliyetleri, Kronik Kitap, İstanbul.
51. RICHELSON, Jeffrey (1990), “The Calculus of Intelligence Cooperation”, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, S.4(3), ss.315-330.
52. RID, Thomas (2020), Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare, Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publishing, New York.
53. SMITH, Adam M. (2015), “U.S. Intelligence and Counterterrorism Policy after 9/11”, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, S.28(2), ss.345-368.
54. SPYKMAN, Nicholas J. (1995), Political Geography of the Americas: Foundations of National Power, David Van Nostrand Company Inc., London.
55. SVENDSEN, David (2009), “Connecting Intelligence and Theory: Intelligence Liaison and International Relations”, Intelligence and National Security, S.24(5), ss.700-721.
56. TANG, Shiping (2010), “Social Evolution of International Politics: From Mearsheimer to Jervis”, European Journal of International Relations, S.16(1), ss.31-55.
57. TAYLOR, Stuart (2007), “The Role of Intelligence in National Security”, Contemporary Security Issues (Ed. Alan Collins), Oxford University Press, London, ss.248-267.
58. WALSH, James (2009), The International Politics of Intelligence Sharing, Columbia University Press, New York.
59. WALTZ, Kenneth N. (1979), Theory of International Politics, Reading, Addison-Wesley Publishing, University of California.
60. WEISBRODE, Kenneth (2006), “Üç Soğuk Savaşçı”, NATO Dergisi, http://www.nato.int/docu/review/2006/issue1/turkish/special.html (Erişim Tarihi: 03.11.2025).
61. WENDT, Alexander (1992), “Anarchy is What States Make of it: The Social Construction of Power Politics”, International Organization, S.46(2), ss.391-425.
62. WENDT, Alexander (1999), Social Theory of International Politics, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
63. WENDT, Alexander (2003), “Why a World State Is Inevitable”, European Journal of International Relations, S.9(4), ss.491-542.
64. ZELIKOW, Philip (2003), The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, W.W. Norton & Company, New York.