US-Turkey relations regarding Iraq policies (1990-2003): A neoclassical realist evaluation

With the end of the Second World War and the beginning of the Cold War, Turkey and the US developed a strategic partnership against the Soviet Union that represented a threat against both countries security and national interests.With this partnership, Turkey was able to be protected under the security banner of a super power from any sort of attack while also securing military and economic aid from the US. From the stand point of the Western Bloc led by the US, Turkey was a flank that could hinder Soviet influence in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East and provide for the security of Western Europe in case of a potential Soviet attack. During this period, crises and tensions can be observed regarding the bilateral relations, especially in regard to the Cyprus issue. Nevertheless, the common security policies, mutual global and regional interests and the institutional cooperation under NATO, was able to sustain the partnership. The question that this thesis will answer is how the US - Turkey relations, that were almost entirely based on security policies during the bipolar era of the Cold War, were shaped and conducted in the US led unipolar post war era that was no longer divided by ideological borders, in relation to the diversifying security threats and threat assessments of the two countries. How the national interests and threat perceptions of both countries took shape and differed from each other on certain subjects, will be answered in relation to the research question. This thesis claims that the policies regarding Iraq, that elevated the bilateral relations from an alliance to strategic partnership, was also the area that the threat perceptions of the two countries began to differ explicitly. Hence, the bilateral relations from 1990 to 2003, will be analyzed in light of continuities and changes regarding the two countries Iraq policies. Primary sources such as Presidential documents regarding certain statements of leaders as well as National Security Council and National Security Strategy documents will be reviewed in order to provide a more comprehensive analysis. Neoclassical realism, which aims to entegrate first and second levels of analysis found in classical realism with the systemic level of analysis found in neorealism, serves as a theoretical road map with a high degree of explanatory power by taking unit level variables into account when explaining security perceptions and policies. This thesis claims that neoclassical realism, which defines itself as a foreign policy theory rather than a structural one, serves as the most convenient guide for analyzing the continuities, changes, threat and opportunity perceptions of both states in light of systemic pressures.