Role Conceptions and Leadership Rivalry in the Middle East: Transforming Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf Relations
Abstract
In recent years, the Middle East has often been the subject of foreign interventions and the interests of superpowers. The effect of internal dynamics was pushed to the background in regional developments due to this situation. It is vital, however, to analyze the Middle East by understanding the power struggles between the regional powers Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran. This article examines the leadership struggle and role conceptualizations between the regional powers of the Middle East with a focus on the relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. It argues that Turkey is not a rival to Saudi Arabia’s national role conceptions in the Gulf region but rather a favorable partner in Gulf security and economic relations. Relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia will follow a positive course with mutual normalization steps and Turkey’s export-led growth and regional cooperation strategies.
Keywords
Gulf Region, Middle East, Role Conceptions, Turkish Foreign Policy
Thanks
Makalemi değerlendirdiğiniz için teşekkür ederim. Çalışmalarınızda kolaylıklar dilerim.
References
- Altunışık, Meliha. “Turkey’s Relations with Egypt and Saudi Arabia: From Hopes of Cooperation to the Reality of Conflict.” In Aspiring Powers, Regional Rivals: Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the New Middle East, edited by Gonul Tol and David Dumke, 17–39. The Middle East Institute and The University of Central Florida, 2020.
- Cavusoglu, Esra. “From Rise to Crisis: The Qatari Leadership.” Türkiye Ortadoğu Çalışmaları Dergisi 7, no. 1 (June 30, 2020): 81–110.
- Cerioli, Luíza Gimenez. “Saudi Arabia’s National Roles Conceptions after the Arab Uprisings.” In The Arab Gulf States and the West: Perceptions and Realities – Opportunities and Perils, edited by Dania Koleilat Khatib and Maziad, Marwa, 1st edition., 181–202. London ; New York, NY: Routledge, 2018.
- Davutoglu, Ahmet. Stratejik Derinlik. Küre Yayinlari, 2009.
- Holsti, K. J. “National Role Conceptions in the Study of Foreign Policy.” International Studies Quarterly 14, no. 3 (September 1, 1970): 233–309.
- Kaddorah, Emad Y. The Rise of the GCC States and Turkey: Convergent and Divergent Regional Agendas. Cambridge Scholars Publisher, 2021.
- Kirişçi, Kemal. “The Transformation of Turkish Foreign Policy: The Rise of the Trading State.” New Perspectives on Turkey 40 (ed 2009): 29–56.
- Nafi, Basheer M. “The Arabs and Modern Turkey: A Century of Changing Perceptions.” Insight Turkey 11, no. 1 (2009): 63–82.
- Oğuzlu, Tarik. “Middle Easternization of Turkey’s Foreign Policy: Does Turkey Dissociate from the West?” Turkish Studies 9, no. 1 (March 1, 2008): 3–20.
- Özdamar, Özgür, B.Toygar Halı̇ stoprak, and İ. Erkam Sula. “From Good ‘Neighbor to Model’: Turkey’s Changing Roles in the Middle East in the Aftermath of Die Arab Spring.” Uluslararası İlişkiler / International Relations 11, no. 42 (2014): 93–113.
