From Realist Billiard Balls and Liberal Concentric Circles to Global IR’s Venn Diagram? Rethinking International Relations via Turkey’s Centennial

Abstract

The Republic of Turkey continues to grapple with a foundational tension between isolationist impulses steeped in a nationalist, sovereigntist, i.e., realist outlook on the world, and what I call the “embedded liberalism” of the republican project. Yet, neither realism nor liberalism are sufficient, I show, to explain Turkey’s trajectory. Invoking three visions of the international system as envisaged in realism (billiard balls), liberalism (concentric circles), and global IR (which I conceptualize as a Venn diagram), I argue that the last best captures (Turkey’s) challenges and opportunities.

Keywords

history, collective identity, ontological security, (post)colonialism, multipolarity

Citation

Nora Fisher-Onar, “From Realist Billiard Balls and Liberal Concentric Circles to Global IR’s Venn Diagram? Rethinking International Relations via Turkey’s Centennial”, International Relations, Vol. 20, No 78, 2023, pp. 97-118, DOI: 10.33458/uidergisi.1298208

Affiliations

• Nora FISHER-ONAR, Associate Professor, Department of International Studies, University of San Francisco, San Francisco