The New United States-Turkey Partnership: A View From Washington

Richard Weitz*

Recto | Verso Blog's Note: This is a summary of a 20-page document. Full analysis is available for download.

After several years of tense ties between Turkey and the United States, Turkey has been deepening security cooperation with Washington, leading to the advent of a “Golden Era” in Turkish-U.S. relations.

The expectation is that, with much of Europe paralyzed due to the Euro crisis and with U.S. attention drifting eastward, Turkey could become one of the most influential NATO countries as well as one of the most important U.S. allies in coming years.

For the past decade, Turkey has become a much more prominent global actor backstopped by a dynamic diplomacy, one of the world’s most energetic economies, and a turbulent neighborhood whose security vacuum propels Turkish involvement. Turkey brings important security assets to NATO-led missions. Its rapid economic growth is facilitating the modernization of the Turkish armed forces and the country’s domestic defense industry. Its large, predominately moderate Muslim population provides Ankara with one of the largest and most readily deployable armies in Europe. Turkey’s location astride multiple global hotspots in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East widens NATO’s geographic reach and perspective. Turkey is already applying its important assets to contribute to critical U.S. foreign policies.

Being more flexible, Turkish foreign policy has also become less predictable, which complicates Ankara’s relations with Washington and other traditional partners. A few years ago, people in Washington were blaming Europeans and the George W. Bush administration for prompting Turkey to abandon the West and align more closely with Russia, Iran, Syria, and other anti-Western regimes. Now the sense is that Turkey has been responding to its local challenges by moving closer to the United States. Sustaining this strong partnership will require Turkey and the United States to address some lingering difficulties in the relationship that could become more serious over time.

*Rethink Institute, Washington DC.

Source: Today's Zaman

Posted in: European Union, Foreign Policy, Turkey, United States