Turkey’s More Independent Foreign Policy

Chris and Melanie sit down with Aaron Stein, chief content officer at War on the Rocks and co-author of a new report on Turkey’s new, more independent foreign policy. Why has Ankara changed its foreign policy course over the last few decades? What does this foreign policy mean for United States interests? How should Turkey’s NATO allies respond when it seems to act against the alliance? What might the upcoming elections mean for the Turkish-U.S. relationship? Chris is unhappy with some defenses of the Iraq invasion, Aaron praises those who worked so hard out of the spotlight to evacuate people safely from Afghanistan, and Melanie is impressed with some journalism at the one-year mark of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Episode Reading:

• Nicholas Danforth and Aaron Stein, Turkey’s New Foreign Policy: Ankara’s Ambitions, Regional Responses, and Implications for the United States, (Philadelphia: Foreign Policy Research Institute, 2023).
• Patricia Cohen, “Turkey is Strengthening Its Energy Ties with Russia,” New York Times, December 9, 2022.
• Erin Banco, Garrett M. Graff, et al., “‘Something Was Badly Wrong: When Washington Realized Russia Was Actually Invading Ukraine,’” Politico, February 24, 2023.
• Max Seddon, “How Putin Blundered into Ukraine—Then Doubled Down,” Financial Times, February 23, 2023.
• Jim Swift, “Mike Lee’s Reckless, Feckless Deadline for Japan,” The Bulwark, February 6, 2023.
• Ryan Evans, Colin Kahl, and Derek Chollet, “Backing Ukraine against Russia,” War on the Rocks podcast, February 24, 2023.
• “Why the Afghan Security Forces Collapsed,” Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, February 2023.
• Annual Student Competition: Build a Better US Foreign Policy, Stimson Center
• Summer 2023- Reimagining U.S. Grand Strategy Program Internship – Washington, DC – Stimson Center Jobs (applicantpro.com)

Image: The White House