Month: November 2014

Sources of Turkish Conduct – Part 2

~ middleeastweekblog

Aaron Stein joins me for part 2 of our discussion on Turkey’s Middle East foreign policy. You can listen to part 1 here.

In this episode we talked about Turkey’s foreign policy towards Syria and Iraq, from the time the AKP came to power in 2002 to the current crisis.

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Sources of Turkish Conduct – Part 1

~ middleeastweekblog

Aaron Stein joins me for a joint Middle East Week and Turkey Wonk podcast about Turkey’s foreign policy in the Middle East. This is part one of two episodes that are based on a forthcoming book by Aaron on this topic. In this first part we discussed:

  • Turkey’s policy of “Strategic Depth”
  • The motivations behind the AKP’s foreign policy strategy
  • Turkey’s role as mediator in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and their support for Hamas
  • How Turkey reacted to the start of the Arab Spring in Tunisia
  • Turkey’s reaction to the uprising in Libya and their role in the current conflict
  • The ups and downs of Turkey’s foreign policy in Egypt after the fall of Mubarak

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Kurdish Independence

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Michael Knights comes back on the show to discuss issues related to Kurdish independence. Topics covered include:

  • Kurdish autonomy through the 1990’s and 2000’s
  • The Kurdish economy and the importance of oil
  • Unity and cooperation amongst various Kurdish political parties and organizations
  • The potential future importance of Kurdish natural gas
  • How the international community has approached the issue of Kurdish independence
  • What the future could hold for Kurdish political and economic independence

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Political Chaos in Yemen

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Adam Baron comes on the show to discuss the ongoing political chaos in Yemen. Topics covered include:

  • Who the Houthis are, and where they get their power and influence
  • Saleh’s continued grip on power and recent connections to the Houthis
  • The Islamist Islah party’s current status
  • How AQAP fits into the current chaos
  • What president Hadi has been able to accomplish over the past two years
  • The importance of local politics in Yemen
  • The relevance of the international community (including the recent sanctions) on Yemeni politics
  • Problems with viewing the situation in Yemen through a sectarian lens

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Tunisian Politics: Beyond Secular vs. Islamist

~ middleeastweekblog

Yasmine Ryan comes back on the show to talk about the recent elections in Tunisia. We talked about the major political parties in Tunisia (going beyond Islamist vs. secular), the level of participation and interest in the political process, economic challenges facing Tunisia, the upcoming presidential election, and more.

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