Area and International Studies in Turkey: The Case of the United States

Year 2012, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 50 - 63, 02.01.2012

İlter Turan

Abstract

Area and International Studies in Turkey: The Case of the United States

Abstract

Area studies in the international relations discipline have evolved in
response to specific needs of countries and particular conditions of the world
affairs at a given time. This article addresses a set of conditions and needs
that influenced the development of area studies in international relations with
a focus on the emergence and growth of studies on the United States in Turkey.
Accordingly, it is argued that Turkey has historically conceptualized external
relations as state-to-state relations and not prioritized initially a research
program on area studies. However, the shift from import substitution to
export-led growth and the end of the Cold War created an environment in which
Turkey’s needs to research about other societies have intensified. This has led
to the establishment of research programs and centers at universities as well
as the opening of think tanks, some funded by the public, others privately. In
light of the assessment of the growth of these research and teaching
institutions focusing on the United States, it is concluded that American
studies are less developed than what might be expected given Turkey’s close
relationship with the United States. Some explanations are also offered for
such an observation.

Keywords

foreign policy, Area studies, research centers, think tanks, United States, Turkey

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