Turkey, the EU and the Middle East Foreign Policy Cooperation and the Arab Uprisings Routledge Studies in Foreign Policy Analysis Series

This book focuses on the dynamics of Turkey?s relationship with Europe in the context of the ?Arab Spring? and analyses Turkish behaviour vis-à-vis foreign policy cooperation with the EU.

Süsler explains the complexity of Turkey-EU relations by looking beyond membership negotiations and examines informal foreign policy dialogue between Turkish and EU officials. The book discusses the reactions of the Turkish government to the uprisings in Libya, Syria, and Egypt and cooperative opportunities between Turkey and the EU. The analysis finds that although cooperation varies across cases, foreign policy dialogue has become a main driver of the Turkey-EU relationship. A counter-intuitive finding of the research is that the EU has often been the actor seeking Turkey?s cooperation, rather than the other way round, clearly challenging the original power asymmetry between Turkey and the EU.

Based on interviews with diplomats and policy makers and extensive documentary research, this book will be of interest to political scientists, students, policy makers and researchers focusing on Turkish foreign policy and Turkey-EU relations. This book is also about exploring inventive ways of maintaining a complex working partnership with the EU and will be of interest to scholars working on the EU?s relationship with "outsiders".

Chapter 1 – Introduction Chapter 2 – Explaining Turkey’s Cooperation with the EU Chapter 3 – Institutional Framework for Foreign Policy Dialogue between Turkey and the EU Chapter 4 – Turkey’s Foreign Policy Cooperation with the EU during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 Chapter 5 – Turkey’s Foreign Policy Cooperation with the EU during the Libyan Revolution of 2011 Chapter 6 – Turkey’s Foreign Policy Cooperation with the EU during the Syrian Uprising, 2011-12, and Its Aftermath Chapter 7 – Turkey’s Foreign Policy Cooperation with the EU in Post-Uprising Egypt Chapter 8 – Conclusion

Buğra Süsler is a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow at the LSE IDEAS, the foreign policy think tank of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and a Teaching Fellow at the University College London (UCL) Department of Political Science. His research focuses on foreign policy analysis, international cooperation, and global conflicts. He holds a PhD in International Relations and an MSc in Politics and Government in the European Union from the LSE as well as a BSc in Politics from the University of Bristol.