The Path to an Entrenching Alliance: Utilitarianism and Historical Institutionalism in Committing to NATO’s Missile Defense System

Abstract

A critical juncture in Turkey’s NATO membership arrived in 2010 with the NATO Council’s decision, at its Lisbon summit, to build a ballistic missile defense system. After many deliberations, Turkey finally agreed to participate in NATO’s missile defense by hosting the system’s radar site in September 2011. This article investigates the main dynamics of the Turkish decision to commit to the NATO missile defense system by hosting the radar site on its territory. From a realpolitik point of view, Turkey’s participation in the missile shield presents us with a theoretical puzzle as the utilitarian calculations do not seem to indicate a positive sum gain. From a historical institutionalist perspective, the Turkish decision could be seen as a result of a path-dependent process.

Keywords

Utilitarianism, Historical Institutionalism, Alliances, NATO, Missile Defense System

Citation

Tağma, Halit Mustafa Emin, Meltem Müftüler-Baç and Ezgi Uzun, “The Path to an Entrenching Alliance: Utilitarianism and Historical Institutionalism in Committing to NATO’s Missile Defense System”, International Relations, Volume 9, No. 36 (Winter 2013), p. 75-100.

Affiliations

• Halit Mustafa Emin TAĞMA, Assist. Prof. Dr., Altın Koza University, Department of International Relations
• Meltem MÜFTÜLER-BAÇ, Prof. Dr., Sabancı University, Department of International Relations
• Ezgi UZUN, PhD Candidate, Sabancı University, Department of Political Science