Transformative Conflict Resolution in an Unstable Neighbourhood: Turkey’s Conflict Resolution Efforts in the Middle East

Turkey had pursued a foreign policy in the Middle East that focused on transformative conflict resolution until the beginning of the “Arab Spring”. This transformative conflict resolution approach had aimed at bringing holistic and systemic change to the entire region. Turkish foreign policy had aimed at transforming the conflict-producing structures, tried to engage positively with the actors and elites and attempted to change the securitydominated agenda into a multi-dimensional agenda. Despite the dominant discourse of the transformative conflict resolution, in practice the most effective conflict resolution methods and tools that Turkey utilised during this period fell under the management approaches. Turkey’s normative concerns and priorities did not overlap with the priorities of other influential actors in the region. Furthermore the gap between transformative discourse and management practice has widened since Turkey became involved more directly with ongoing crises in the region

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  • Several terms are used to define the “field”, including “conflict resolution” (CR) “conflict transformation”, “conflict management” and “peace studies”. In this study, I prefer to use CR, which is the earliest and most widely accepted term to define the discipline. In this study, I further distinguish between “CR” and “conflict resolution” in order to avoid confusion. The former is used to denote the discipline, while the latter is used to denote the practice.
  • In the popular and academic literatures, the term “Arab Spring” is frequently used to denote the series of political transformations in the Middle East and North Africa, which started with the popular revolts in Tunisia in December 2010. I have adopted this term because it is the one most commonly used to define the ongoing political transformation in the MENA region.
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PERCEPTIONS: Journal of International Affairs-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-8641
  • Yayın Aralığı: Yılda 2 Sayı
  • Başlangıç: 1996
  • Yayıncı: T.C Dışişleri Bakanlığı