In this study, the Ottoman Fleet during the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz is taken as a case that stands out as a Nineteenth Century precursor to subsequent efforts by continental powers, Kaiser Wilhelm II's Germany and Stalin's USSR, to build sub-optimal fleets in the Twentieth Century. Therefore, these two cases are added in order to answer the following question: why do continental powers establish or try to acquire naval power beyond levels needed for the physical security of the state? In the ...

For the last two decades two fears have largely shaped Turkey's view of NATO. These are fears of entrapment and abandonment. Both are symptoms of a type of security dilemma that is peculiar to military alliances and coalitions. Both fears had their origins in the Cold War in the context of Turkey's 60-year-old NATO membership. They also led to the pursuit of autonomy in Turkish foreign policy both as a response strategy and as a strategic choice in its own right. While the former version featured ...

Turkey has been member of NATO for more than six decades. Turkey's contributions to NATO's collective defense have evolved in quantity and quality in step with changes in the ends and means of security. In terms of its contributions to the alliance, two elements of continued stand out. The first one is Turkey's location. Its proximity to zones of risks and threats in NATO's assessments has turned Turkey into an asset. The other element is Turkey's ability to raise and maintain a large army at a ...

This article analyses the triangular relations between Britain, the United States and Turkey in the volatile Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean region at the advent of the Cold War. It examines the political, economic and military strategies that enabled Turkey to adapt to the transitional period from the Pax Britannica to the Pax Americana (1947-1957) in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. By focusing on this turbulent decade extending from the Truman Doctrine (1947) to the Eisenhower ...

Considered one of the most critical milestones in the history of Turkish Foreign Policy after the Second World War, the termination of the Turkish – Soviet Treaty of Neutrality and Friendship on March 19, 1945, and the subsequent events that are closely related to the Turkish – Soviet and Turkish – Anglo-Saxon relations until the first days of January 1946, particularly the Soviet demands of June 1945, constitute the main scope of this research. In the research, firstly, it was aimed to establish ...