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Analyzing the impact of fiscal austerity policy on urban resilience in Türkiye
Urban resilience is defined as the ability of urban economies to absorb, respond to, and recover from external and internal shocks, including economic crises, policy changes, natural disasters, and socio-political disruptions. During financial crises, governments often attempt to stabilize the economy through fiscal austerity policies, which is one of the most comprehensive policy responses, including methods such as the government increasing taxes or reducing public spending. However, the socioeconomic impact of such policies in developing nations remains unexplored. Therefore, the objective of this research is to empirically analyze Türkiye's fiscal austerity and its potential implications for regional urban resilience. While most literature predominantly explores the macro-level impacts of fiscal policies, this research conducts cross-regional comparative research using data on urban resilience and fiscal austerity in all 81 provinces of Türkiye between 2008 and 2024. With Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the urban resilience index is developed using 14 comprehensive indicators across three dimensions: economic, social, and infrastructural, allowing the analysis to provide a more nuanced interpretation of the relationship between urban adaptability and fiscal pressures. Moreover, an advanced mapping technique was employed through the R program to visualize and interpret spatial disparities in urban resilience. Panel VAR analysis is another important component of this analysis, as it intends to capture dynamic policy effects over time, while fixed effects estimation captures the relationship between fiscal austerity and urban resilience. The study reveals that fiscal austerity limits local growth by lowering investments in public development projects. This threatens regional urban resilience, undermining the impacts on weaker economies and exacerbating spatial inequalities. The study suggests that policymakers should develop inclusive fiscal strategies to promote equitable urban development. It provides real-world policy considerations and implications for fiscal austerity as part of sustainable urban economies.
Why can't the US and China be a natural capitalist ally? A geopolitical reading of inter-capitalist rivalry
The rivalry between the United States (U.S.) and China has entered an uncharted phase, marked by heightened confrontation over trade, technology, the South China Sea, Taiwan, and various other issues. This paper introduces a Geopolitical reading of the conflict within the fold of an Inter-Capitalist Rivalry. In contrast to mainstream IR theories, the paper is grounded in two key premises: (a) inter-state competition and global capitalist development are dialectically co-constitutive, each crucially informing the other; and (b) both China and the U.S. are leading capitalist states, whose capitalist identity and respective trajectories of domestic capitalist development play a significant role in shaping their international behavior. Driven primarily by the theoretical framework of Uneven & Combined Development (UCD), this paper advances two key arguments. First, rather than a contest between political hegemons, the U.S.-China rivalry is best understood as an inter-capitalist rivalry shaped by (i) qualitative differences in their respective models of capitalist development and (ii) their positioning within evolving global capitalist dynamics and hierarchies, particularly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Second, contrary to the Globalist account, the emergence of a Transnational Capitalist Class has not prevented inter-capitalist rivalry from taking the form of "Geopolitical" tensions (involving nation-states and regional institutions), as evidenced in the U.S.-China conflict. Building on these findings, this research seeks to refute the Globalist perspective on inter-state relations within global capitalism, reinstating the importance of geopolitical dynamics in understanding global capitalist transformations and inter-capitalist competition.
Sponsoring rebellion: Why do some paramilitary groups rebel against their home-states while others remain loyal?
Why do some paramilitary groups rebel against their home states, while others remain loyal? This thesis investigates this question by proposing a causal mechanism centered on the dynamics between paramilitary groups, their home states, and external sponsors. It argues that rebellion becomes likely when a paramilitary group receives increased external support during a period of deteriorating relations between the home state and the sponsoring external actor. In such cases, support is no longer a neutral form of capacity-building but a strategic tool of leverage, enabling paramilitary groups to expand their autonomy and confront state authority. To test this hypothesis, the study adopts a comparative case study approach using the Most Similar Systems Design (MSSD). It analyzes three major paramilitary groups: Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), and Syria's National Defense Forces (NDF). All three emerged in contexts of internal conflict, operate in fragile or authoritarian states, and have received significant foreign support. Yet their outcomes diverge sharply. The RSF began rebelling against Sudan's government in 2019, and the scale of its confrontation continued escalating amid the breakdown of Sudan–UAE relations and intensified Emirati backing. In contrast, both the PMF and NDF have remained largely loyal to their home states despite also benefiting from sustained external support. By tracing how foreign backing interacts with inter-state diplomatic dynamics, this thesis shows that rebellion is most likely when sponsorship increases under adversarial political conditions. Adding a layer into understanding paramilitary behavior, and why it is not only a function of domestic dynamics that cannot be understood in isolation from the geopolitical contexts surrounding them as it is also deeply embedded in the shifting landscape of inter-state relations. The findings offer new insights into how paramilitary behavior evolves in conflict prone states and contributes to debates on proxy warfare, external intervention, and state fragmentation.
Contemporary art in urban Turkey:Religious motives and new trends in painting
No matter how enlightened with secular, scientific and technological developments, the contemporary world society has been striving to fill the spiritual gap created by the modern era. This gap, especially deepened in the last decade, has led societies to re-embrace their religious and national values all over the world. This tendency verifies the concept of Post-Secularism, proposed by Jürgen Habermas, as the inevitable consequence of secularism and the continuation of post-modernism. The aim of this study is to examine whether this tendency has also been experienced in today's Turkey through a thorough research in the contemporary art market. In this research, hundreds of oil paintings exhibited during the last decade of the Turkish art market are examined and the most appropriate samples are selected for visual discourse analysis. During the analysis, it is observed that there is an increasing tendency in prevalance to revive the Islamic symbols and traditional Turkish motifs within the contemporary oil paintings in Turkish art market. In order to understand how to read these religious and traditional discourses in the paintings, this thesis is based on the Art Theory of Pierre Bourdieu and the study of Re-invention of Tradition by Eric Hobsbawm.
Mctaggart'ın zamanın gerçekdışılığı argümanının zaman felsefesi bağlamında değerlendirilmesi
Bu çalışma, zamanın ne'liği problemi üzerine felsefi bir sorgulama amacını taşımaktadır. Zamanın ne'liği meselesi, Antik Çağ'dan günümüze kadar pek çok felsefeci tarafından incelenmiştir. Bu felsefeciler arasında yirminci yüzyıl felsefecilerinden John Ellis McTaggart'ın ortaya attığı "Zamanın Gerçekdışılığı Argümanı", sorgulamanın gidişatı açısından son derece önem teşkil etmiştir. Bu nedenle çalışmanın merkezi McTaggart'ın argümanının incelenmesine ayrılmış, diğer bölümlerde ise McTaggart öncesi ve McTaggart sonrasına ait düşünceler ele alınmıştır. Çalışmanın ilk bölümünde McTaggart'a kadarki süreç içerisinde felsefe tarihinde geliştirilmiş zaman düşünceleri ele alınmıştır. Bölüm içerisinde nesnel zaman anlayışının benimsendiği Aristo fiziği, Aristo fiziği karşısında geliştirilen öznel zaman anlayışı, mutlak zaman anlayışının benimsendiği Newton fiziği, Newton fiziği karşısında geliştirilen ilişkisel zaman anlayışı, izafi zaman anlayışının benimsendiği Einstein fiziği ve Einstein fiziği döneminde geliştirilen diğer zaman anlayışları karşılıklı olarak değerlendirilmiştir. Böylece McTaggart'ın argümanının nelerden etkilendiği, bu argüman öncesinde zamana dair hangi sorgulamaların yapıldığı gibi sorulara yanıt aranmaya çalışılmıştır. Çalışmanın ikinci bölümü, McTaggart'ın "Zamanın Gerçekdışılığı Argümanı"nın incelenmesine ayrılmıştır. Bu bağlamda sırasıyla zamanın gerçek olmadığına dair geliştirilen ilk düşünceler incelenmiş, McTaggart'ın sistematiğinde anahtar rol oynayan zamanın A serisi, B serisi ve C serisi kavramları ve argümanın sistematiğinin detaylı analizi yapılmıştır. Çalışmanın son bölümünde ise McTaggart sonrası geliştirilen zaman teorileri ve yirminci yüzyıl Zaman Felsefesi tartışmaları ele alınmıştır. Bölüm içerisinde sırasıyla A serisi savunucularından Şimdicilik Teorisi, Genişleyen Evren Teorisi, İndirgemeci Yaklaşım; B serisi savunucularından Ezeli Zaman Teorisi, Kadercilik Teorisi, Blok Evren Teorisi ve Platonizm Teorisi incelenmiştir. Böylece McTaggart öncesi, McTaggart argümanı ve McTaggart sonrasına dair zamanın ne'liği üzerine geliştirilen düşünceler karşılaştırılmalı olarak ele alınmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Felsefe Tarihi, Zaman Felsefesi, Zaman, Zamanın Gerçekdışılığı, McTaggart, A serisi, B serisi, Kipli Zaman Teorisi, Dinamik Zaman Teorisi, Kipsiz Zaman Teorisi, Statik Zaman Teorisi.
Suriyeli mülteciler ile Türkiye Cumhuriyeti vatandaşlarının karşılıklı algısı: İstanbul Avrupa yakası örneği
The impacts of the Arab Spring, which started in 2010 in Tunisia, spread to many countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa in a very short period of time. The process in Syria, which began as regional conflicts in March, 2011, incrementally turned into a civil war which affected so many people in social, economic and political terms. Within the 7 years since the beginning of the civil war, 3.6 million registered refugees who fled from Syria, came to Turkey. Istanbul accommodates 550 thousand of them. This study aims to learn and explain the mutual perceptions of Syrian refugees and Turkish citizens who live in the European side of Istanbul in economic, social and political means. The research focuses on the zones where these two groups intersect, interact and contact. In this respect, the economic questions about the rise of rental rates, the competition in the labour market and wage discrimination; the socio-political questions about the effects of religion, the ways of perceiving cultural values, and the political impacts of the media and ideologies on this perception were explored. In this study, qualitative research methods were utilized in the districts of Fatih, Esenyurt, Bayrampaşa and Bakırköy which are located in the European side of Istanbul. The various towns and districts selected enabled a general representativeness and comparability with respect to their social, economic, political differences and varying percentages of the Syrians within the community. In this respect, the other elements of perception such as the quality/quantity of the contact were also evaluated.
Annelik sosyalizasyonu ve sosyal medya: Instagram örneği
Bu çalışmada, sosyal medyanın annelik sosyalizasyonuna olan katkısı analiz edilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu amaçla, annelerin paylaşımları incelenmiştir. Takipçi sayısı fazla olan ve çok tanınan 25 Instagram kullanıcısı seçilmiş, bu kullanıcıların paylaşımları katılımcı gözlem yoluyla izlenmiştir. Instagram paylaşımlarında ve yorumlarında şahit olduğumuz annelik anlayışı modernitenin temel fikirlerine dayandığından, modern toplumu, geleneksel toplumdan farklı kılan özellikler dikkatle incelenmiştir. Annelikle sıkı sıkıya ilişki içinde olan modern aile, çocukluk ve ebeveynlik fikirleri de tarihi ve sosyolojik olarak incelenmiş ve bu kavramların birbirleriyle ve moderniteyle olan ilişkisi açıklığa kavuşturulmaya çalışılmıştır. Anneliğin modern toplum ve modern birey fikirleriyle sıkı sıkıya ilişki içerisinde olduğu da unutulmamıştır. Kimlik, benlik ve rol kavramları sembolik etkileşimci bir çerçevede tanımlanarak, sosyalizasyon ve annelik sosyalizasyonu sürecini açıklamak için kullanılmıştır. Ayrıca modern annelik anlayışı ve annelik sosyalizasyonunu anlamak için seçtiğimiz alan olan sosyal medyanın kendine has özgünlüklerini anlamak amacıyla sosyal medya da çeşitli yönleriyle incelenmiştir. Bu incelemeler sonucunda, sosyal medyanın annenin benliğini algılaması ve kabullenmesi, grup kimliği edinmesi, ihtiyaç duyduğu pratik ve psikolojik desteği edinmesi, beklenti ve idealleri içselleştirmesi ve yeniden tanımlaması ve bazı toplumsal ve bireysel ihtiyaçlarının giderilmesinde etkili bir aracı olduğu anlaşılmıştır. Sosyal medya; özgür, dinamik ve açık yapısı sayesinde anneler tarafından toplumun annelik rolü hakkındaki algısını şekillendirmek, başka bir deyişle anneliğe dair bazı norm ve beklentileri reddetmek ve yeniden tanımlamak için kullanılmaktadır.
Goerg Simmel'ın yabancı kavramı ve Simmel sonrası analizler: Günümüz İstanbul'unun yabancıları olarak Pakistanlılar ve Suriyeliler
Thanks to the modern communications systems and advancement in transportation technology, the world becomes "a global village" as many scholars refer to. With its increased flows of goods, people and ideas, globalization exposes our assump-tion about cultures, nations and societies as a localized, fixed and rooted into place. The disappearance of the constraints of geography affects placed-based loyalties. Globalization (in general) and strangers (in particular) are together the harbinger of the disappearance of boundaries between cultures, and antagonistic "inside-outside/us-them" mentalities. In today's world, described by hyper mobility and unprecedent population change, the stranger, as a figure of mobility, is in a clash with the local people who adhere to the traditional boundaries of space and belonging. In sociology of stranger, we see that the existing literature is full of theoretical discussions. However, the concept has not so far sufficiently applied to specific groups, such as immigrants of current day cities. Therefore, this study investigates two stranger groups in modern-day Istanbul: the undocumented Pakistani and Syrian immigrants. The study applies Georg Simmel's concept of the stranger and related literature to these two groups. Like the existing scholarship, I argue that the stranger is a relational figure who takes different idiosyncratic forms and roles in different contexts. The study seeks to show the construction of stranger in a specific time and place. To this end, I collect data through the semi-structured interview method and partial observation. I illustrate how the local people and the strangers of Istanbul perceive one another. I argue that the Pakistanis and the Syrians do not receive the same treatment from the host society. The low-income group of the host society has a discriminatory attitude towards the Syrians since they seek to protect their economic interests, maintain the existing order and thus to solidify the borders between "us and them." Briefly, by applying the concept of the stranger to the Pakistanis and the Syrians who are now living in modern-day Istanbul, the present thesis aims at filling the gap in the existing literature.
The formation of hybrid identity of the kurds and the Turks through interethnic marriages in Turkey
Identities are not "fixed and innate" but "fluid and multiple", formed out of the interactions with others; so each encounter adds new meanings to the identities. Based on different theories of the identity, the study aims to show the changing nature of the identity shaped by the processes of migration, globalization and interethnic marriages. The objective of this research is to shed light on the terms, in particular "hybridity, in-betweenness and ambivalence" and to connect them to the Kurds and the Turks who have become ethnically hybrids due to marriages between the Kurds and the Turks. Hybridity, developed from botanical and biological origins has started to be used as mixing of cultures of the colonized and the colonizer groups, in particular during post-colonialism. Hence, the study pursues to indicate hybridization of the identities and explores the processes of hybridization of the Kurds and the Turks through interethnic marriages in Turkey. The main question of the thesis is whether the hybrid Kurds and Turks consider themselves biethnic/bicultural or not. If so, it is assumed these hybrids will approach Kurdish and Turkish nationalism differently. In other words, rather than focusing on differences, they will concentrate on similarities and sharings, and they will be more willing to live together. Hence, in the research paper firstly, it is important to give information about what identity, hybridity and globalization are, and whether there are any marriages between the Turks and the Kurds or not. Soon, what hybridity was in the 19th century and is now will be clarified. Finally; with interviews, the thoughts of hybrids about their identity will be given. Data consist of 15 qualitative interviews conducted with the individuals at different ages and different jobs in Erzurum, Bursa and Istanbul. The main purposes of the study are to find how these people define themselves: whether as Kurds, Turks, in-between, or both, and to examine whether they have any differences from non-hybrid Turks and Kurds, and to see their approach to the Kurdish and Turkish nationalism.
Digital citizenship and redefining political participation in Turkey: The case of Change.org
21st century has been characterized by the rapid developments in the information and communication technologies which have left their marks in almost every sphere of life, one of them being politics. The introduction of online and digital facilities has changed the classical understanding of citizen-state relationship as well as the scope of political participation worldwide, especially in the democratic countries. While participation has been claimed to show decline in the traditional sense with the masses being alienated from politics, the repertoire of political participation has been observed to enlarge with the introduction of unconventional, non-governmental, online and digital practices. Besides, citizenship has been redefined with such labels as "global", "neo-republican", "actualizing" or "democratic" citizenship due to the changing citizenship perceptions and participation tendencies of the new generations. Moreover, as a result of the increasing number of online facilities for civil procedures and activism, the digital citizenship concept has also been proposed to explain the online presence of citizens. At this point, change.org has arisen as a powerful platform that attracts digital citizens and fill a bureaucratic void for online participation -specifically mass petition campaign-. Therefore, this thesis was written to find out if there has been shift caused by the prevalence of online and digital tools in the practice of political participation and citizenship. Accordingly, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 Turkish change.org campaigners between February 2017 and February 2018. The analysis of these interviews contributes to the current literature in the field of politics by shedding light into the current condition of citizenship and political participation of the Turkish change.org campaigners.
İstanbul'da tango deneyimi: Toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifinden bir değerlendirme
This dissertation is about figuring out the idea of `gender? among tango dancers in Istanbul. Specifically, how individuals move in and out of the female and male roles in tango; the interpretation of these roles and the motivating factors beyond to tailoring of these roles were subject to search. I started with the assumption that in tango women voluntarily accept a role of the obedience to man that they work to avoid in their regular life. Whereas men gain legitimation for the sovereignty of leading a woman that they felt obliged to leave so that they are not labeled as macho. In order to evaluate my assumption, I used participant observation and heuristic research methods. Besides, I applied to in-depth interviews for deep probing of thoughts and feelings of tango dancers. The findings were interpreted by using discourse analysis. Theoretically, I got benefit of studies made in dance history, the relationship between dance and cultural studies, body, and gender. Also, I gave place to researches concerning tango: both its history worldwide, in Turkey and its structure. Tango is a gendered dance. In fact, doing tango is performing gender roles itself. Likewise a person who personates a `woman? or `man? by choosing some already determined features that fit with her alleged gender as `performative gender theory? suggests; tango dancers also choose and wear on roles that are presented to them in the name of being `leader? or `follower?. According to research findings, I could say that performing gender roles in tango became a measure of success. Dancers feel satisfied to the degree they reply the requirements of these roles. In the adaptation phase, there could be some difficulties. However, when they learn to express themselves in the tango language, they try their best in order to fit to these tailored roles. Keywords:Tango, Istanbul, Turkey, Argentina, Buenos Aires, Dance, Social Dance, Sex, Gender, Roles in Dance
A media analysis in Turkey on the theory of simulation by Jean Baudrillard (2010 - 2012)
The study explores how media creates its hegemony in contemporary world. At this level, it focuses on understanding media in Turkey in the frame of Jean Baudrillard's simulation theory. It specifically studies the television media and its reflections through the analysis of particular television programmes such as Survivor and marriage programmes. In the study, the quantitative data were obtained through questionnaires conducted with 127 Survivor viewers. Besides, 10 Survivor viewers were interviewed to find out if imageries in Survivor programme are cultivated thereby revealing the extent of television media's impact in human perception. Apart from that, a questionnaire conducted with 2727 participants was made use of to know the general attitude towards media especially by referring to the considerations on marriage programmes. Furthermore, in the study, 5 episodes of Survivor from 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons and 1 episode from a marriage programme (Esra Erol'la Evlen Benimle) broadcasted in 2012 are discussed with the methods of content and discourse analysis as well. From the results revealed via questionnaires, interview, discourse and content analysis, it could be inferred that by the intrusion of the television media, human perception is reformulated being detached from the previously experienced praxis and as a result of it, conscious is entrapped in the hyperreal condition. The dissertation deals with that media imagery is reflected neither in the opposite nor in the similar form of its first referential meaning, yet being left in its anti-form undescriptive. Keywords: simulation, hyper-reality, media, television, entertainment, communication.
The discourse of the justice and development party on the Kurdish and minority issues
The Justice and Development Party (JDP) administration during the 13 years in government developed a new political discourse for solution of ethnic issues in Turkey and started a new series of reform policies known as 'initiatives' which started as 'Kurdish Initiative' and it has been continuing for other ethnic and religious questions. The main purpose of this thesis is exploring the transformation of state discourse on Kurdish and Armenian questions after the ruling period of the JDP. The exploring the approaches of two mainstream political movements, Turkish Nationalism and Political Islam, on the ethnic and religious questions in a historical context is another important purpose of this thesis. Although Kurdish and Armenian questions are different social problems of Turkey, these questions are chosen as research areas. This study aims to examine the discursive similarities and differences on these two "apparently and historically different" ethnic problems to understand the approaches of 'conservative-democrats' on ethnic issues. The analysis of the JDP's discourse on these questions provides convenience in understanding the JDP's motivations, priorities and limitations in the 'Project of National Unity and Fraternity'. Perceptions of JDP administrations on different identities, the historical narratives and approaches of the JDP on the violence incidents are focal points to analyze the political discourse of the JDP.
Hukuku normatif bir sosyal fenomen olarak kuramsallaştırmanın olasılığı: İlkin aşama ve kuramsal varsayımlar
For the last two decades, there has been an impasse between the two main camps of positivism and normativism in the ongoing methodology debate in jurisprudence. Furthermore, there have been recent attacks on the foundations of legal theory by naturalists and legal sociologists. I propose a novel way to analyze the foundations of jurisprudence in terms of theoretical presuppositions in an attempt to situate the methodology debate within the wider context of the philosophy of social science and understanding. The analysis inquires into the initial stage of theorizing where the subject matter of a study is constituted. I call this the prior phase. This foundational inquiry is built on the implications of the Gadamerian positive account of prejudices. By facilitating this novel way, I show that the foundational worries about jurisprudence stem from its central focus on defending the distinct normativity of the law. I argue that a Gadamer-inspired approach to legal normativity is the key to overcome the impasse and bring a livelihood to general jurisprudence.
Merkez ve çeperin kesişiminde: Türkçenin tekdil alanında Kürt dili
This thesis focuses on, monolingualist paradigm, World Literature system and translation as its main tool. While Turkish and Kurdish, Turkish Literature and Kurdish literature provide a fruitful contest area to these concepts, both opens a path to interrogate the borders of monolingual paradigm and the center-periphery dynamics of World Literature. In Kurdish case, it both continues its existence within Turkish and by articulating the World Literature orbit, it aims to construct its own literary space upon that. The novels of Ayhan Geçgin and Mehtap Ceyran, who write in Turkish although their mother tongue is Kurdish, provide to follow the traces of Kurdish which embodied in Turkish. On the other hand, Kurdish with two-sided translation aims to create its own literary space. The first axis of this literary production occurs as a projection of monolingual paradigm. Kurdish, which does not have a "nation state" framework, while constructing its monolingual via translation, extends its literary space by establishing relationship with Turkish in the translation area. In that context, the enlargement of Kurdish's politic and literary capital by those interactions, is also the sign of the heaviness of monolingual paradigm in the current World Literature system which is imagined as being multilingual. On the other hand, while Bakhtiyar Ali's novel I stared at the Night of the Citywith translation into English attains a wider literary market, the efforts of Mehmed Uzun to be able to articulate to Turkish literary market, signs the multi center-multi peripherical dynamics of the World Literature system. Interrogation of the tension between center and periphery, the effect of construction of nation state to the hierarchy between languages and monolingual paradigm, translation and literary market, and as living space of all these concepts World Literature system are the main frame of this thesis.
ABD liberal hegemonyası ve güç dengesi: Kama takma stratejileri
The post-Cold War world order is presented as distinct from other historical incidences of attempts to attain hegemony. Tellingly, the term benevolent hegemony is used to define the exceptional nature of the US-led international system. The provision of public goods to others and the pioneering of liberal norms feature as the definitive aspects of US benignity. These attributes were claimed to have led other states to appreciate the US's role of leadership as conducive to the improvement of every one's interests. Yet, the multiple forms of resentment displayed by other great powers suggest the US's self-portrayal as benign, benevolent and well-intentioned towards others does not necessarily yield the expected results of approbation and admiration from its partners. Indeed, it appears relative power capabilities continue to remain a more reliable measure than good intentions. As a result, we see states engage in balancing behaviors to check the unrestrained supremacy of the US. From the multiple alternative balancing mechanisms available, this thesis explores wedging strategies as a significant means of degrading the dominance of the US by targeting its alignments in a unipolar international structure. In order to substantiate this claim, the Georgian War of 2008 and the Ukraine Crisis are analyzed as part of the Russia's strategy to prevent Ukraine and Georgia from joining NATO alliance and the Western camp. Additionally, China's declaration of Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in 2013 is examined as an extension of China's policy of weakening the US-Japan cooperation in order to reduce the US dominance in the region.