The Black Sea region is coming into its own although it is at times a contested and dangerous neighbourhood. Despite heightened interest in the region its real priorities and needs are still being largely ignored by insiders and outsiders alike. What is needed are regional solutions for regional problems. The authors present the key findings and recommendations of the Commission on the Black Sea a civil society initiative comprising a number of current and former policy-makers scholars and ...

The Black Sea has been a site of conflictual relations for centuries, though changes since the end of the Cold War have allowed for the emergence of a cooperative environment. Because of the region's strategic location, controlling it represents an exceptional geopolitical value, which attracts international attention and interests in the region's future. This paper argues that the increased attention to, and various policies toward, the region by the US, the EU, and the Russian Federation have ...

In parallel with the worldwide studies focusing on the International Relations (IR) discipline, there have been works looking into the transformation of the IR discipline in Turkey and its contribution to the global knowledge production. In order to provide sound data for these studies, International Relations Council of Turkey (IRCT) conducted two surveys among the Turkish IR academics in 2007 and 2009, and have been cooperating with the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International ...

The view that we have reached the end of the "grand debates" in International Relations (IR) is widespread among the majority of IR scholars. Today, we observe that the references to the great theoretical debates in the prominent journals of IR have significantly diminished and that the most relevant debates have been among the scholars belonging to the same school specifically over empirical studies rather than between theories/paradigms. 'this paper, by revealing the challenges generated by the ...

The aim of this study is to analyze the foundations evolution and implementation of the se curity and strategy culture of Turkey as a country whose society has been constructed through a particular security identification. In this context the initial aim is to analyze the historical and geopolitical background of Turkey's security perceptions. Afterwards the security conceptualization of Turkey and the role played by the military in this process will be analyzed together with the effects of the ...

Following the surveys which were conducted in 2007 and 2009 by the International Relations Council of Turkey Teaching Research and International Politics Survey 2011 was implemented in 2011 in cooperation with the Teaching Research and International Politics - TRIP Survey which has been carried out by the Institute for the Theory and Practice of International Re lations at the College of William and Mary in the United States since 2004. The survey aims to explain and understand the development ...

One of the major weaknesses of the studies on the development of International Relations (IR) curricula in Turkey is the lack of systematic data on the characteristics history development and current status of the IR academia. In order to reveal research practices of academicians and how international relations is taught and how IR scholars perceive the discipline an online survey was conducted among the faculty members of the IR Departments in Turkey in June-July 2009. Scholars were asked to ...

The Black Sea has been on the global agenda since the end of the Cold War ; and Turkey has appeared as a rising regional power in the region. Turkey's policies in the Black Sea have aimed at the creation of region-wide multilateral cooperation schemes. Starting with the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization it initiated several institutions with varying degrees of success. In addition to creating a stable environment conducive to increased cooperation and enhanced trade relationships sustaining ...