The relationship of media, public opinion and foreign policy: A case study on the relations between Turkey and Israel

As a fundamental aspect of social life, media has a set of complex relations with individuals, society and state, thus offering an expanding field of research for the discipline of International Relations. The age of globalization, in particular, has intensified scholarly efforts of understanding the impact of media on relationships between states. With particular reference to foreign policy analysis, scholars go beyond traditional approaches and examine the role of media as a conceptual tool within this process. This study aims to contribute to the burgeoning literature on media and foreign policy analysis foreign policy towards Israel. It emphasizes the relationship between foreign policy makers and media, the effects of media over decision-making actors within a theoretical framework of decision-making approaches. The first part highlights the purpose and significance of this study. The second part examines media's relations with politics, foreign policy and public opinion. The third part provides a theoretical review of media and foreign policy relations. The fourth part explains the relationship between media and foreign policy within the scope of decision-making approaches. The impact of media on Turkey - Israel relations is analyzed in the fifth and concluding parts. In this sense the main argument of this study is the media being interaction with the foreign policy decision makers, even it is indirect and the foreign policy decisions constituting a part of the interactions.