Global shifts and military dimension in middle power politics: Turkey's military activism in the Post-Arab spring era

What is the role of hard power in middle power politics? While the existing literature on middle powers places greater attention on soft power dominated worldview, the importance of military and defense industry dimensions is highly neglected. However, middle powers cannot be confined to soft power and low-politics issues given the dramatic alterations in regional and global scales. For that reason, this thesis focuses on the potentials and risks generated by military activism and defense industry investments for middle powers drawing on the Turkish case in the post-Arab Spring period. Accordingly, middle powers can indeed considerably benefit from their hard power toolbox to shape the geopolitical dynamics involving multiple actors from within and outside of the region in the direction of their own national interests. Nevertheless, this potential should not be taken for granted and it depends on a carefully crafted, cautious and balanced implementation of wise policies without underestimating the role of soft power working in the background as well. On the flip side, being increasingly associated with military force and ambitious defense industry endeavors could undermine the soft power components of middle power foreign policy behavior. As a result, a suboptimal mix of soft and hard tools negatively impacts broader activism strategies of middle powers, with a particular blow on their ability to form effective coalitions as well as on aspirations to serve as normative role models in their respective regions.