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2017 | Buch

Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect

Turkish Foreign Policy Discourse

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Über dieses Buch

This book offers a discursive analysis of the Turkish Foreign Policy on Humanitarian Interventions (HI) and the doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P). Across the chapters the author addresses important questions, such as: what is the position of the HI and R2P in the Turkish foreign policy discourse? Is there any variation between cases when it comes to the use of these concepts? How do these discourses shape/change/transform or sustain the Turkish identity? Despite the tendency in some countries to incorporate HI and R2P principles into their foreign policy (UK, Netherlands, Canada, Japan), and the fact that some countries are lobbying to make these principles a part of international or UN law, in the developing world these policies and concepts have not gained widespread recognition or approval. Countries like China, Brazil and India approach these concepts with suspicion or with reservation. The same tendency can be observed in the MENA region and in some parts of Africa and Asia. In this book, the author looks at the reasons behind these differences in approach and explores how the concept of identity affects Turkish foreign policy specifically. This study is invaluable for researchers and students of R2P and HI and foreign policy discourse in general.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
1. Introduction
Abstract
This book analyses Turkish foreign policy discourse on humanitarian interventions and the responsibility to protect (R2P), especially regarding Libya and Syria. The theory, method and case studies are introduced shortly. Inspired by the ideas of Laclau and Mouffe, the main research question is how Turkish foreign policy discourses articulated key notions. Structurally, this study explores the identity apparatus of subject positions, political subjectivity and split identities; the political apparatus of discourse coalitions, antagonisms and hegemonic relationships and the discourse apparatus of constitution of relationships of equivalence and difference. With the help of a large data set, this book investigates and explains Turkish official discourse on interventions in Libya and Syria.
Birsen Erdogan
2. What Is Discourse?
Abstract
In this chapter, the concept of discourse is explained with reference to several schools of thought. Then, the understanding of Laclau and Mouffe about the discourse is presented. In this part, important concepts, such as signification, subject positions, hegemony, discourse coalitions, split identities, logics of equivalence and difference, will be described. These concepts will be used to understand identity, discourse and political apparatuses. Later this chapter discusses how Laclau and Mouffe can be used in the studies of international relations and foreign policy analysis. Finally, this chapter introduces the method and data set used in the book.
Birsen Erdogan
3. Humanitarian Intervention and Responsibility to Protect
Abstract
Chapter 3 explains the evolution of the responsibility to protect (R2P) norm, as a distinct model but still contingent to the notion of humanitarian intervention. It also discusses how the R2P is articulated in separate discursive coalitions, which makes its meaning contested and unfixed. In this part, a literature review of both critical and pro-R2P is presented. The chapter also makes references to the discursive practices. Moreover, the chapter introduces how the term entered into the Turkish discourse.
Birsen Erdogan
4. Turkish Foreign Policy: A Literature and Discourse Analysis
Abstract
This chapter first analyses the extensive literature on Turkish foreign policy, in order to understand how academic sources signify the nodal and key points of this policy. In this section, analyses using both rational-actor model and critical methods are taken into account. Based on them, the chapter draws a general picture of the articulations of the Turkish foreign policy, such as civilisational, central-state, soft-power, and its views on the current world order. Then the chapter moves to the analyses of the statements and speeches made by Ahmet Davutoglu, the former prime minister and minister of foreign affairs. This part explains Davutoglu’s notion of foreign policy, the Middle East, Arab Spring, and also historical transformations and Turkey’s political subjectivity as a unique and distinct order-creating state.
Birsen Erdogan
5. Libya and Discourse Analysis
Abstract
This chapter is the first case-study chapter in the book. It discusses how Turkish official discourse evolved during the Libyan crisis and later intervention. It analyses the key signifiers, changes and inconsistencies in this discourse. It scrutinises the identity apparatus about subject positions and split identities; the political apparatus about discourse coalitions and hegemonic interventions; and finally, the discourse apparatus about the constitution of logics of equivalence and difference. In the last part, the chapter shortly states the results of the findings of a computer-assisted discourse analysis, in order to see the key points of the discussions about Libya intervention in the Turkish Parliament. This chapter, in general, indicates how subjects are acting in an unstable environment and their discourses are regularly challenged.
Birsen Erdogan
6. Syria and Discourse Analysis
Abstract
This chapter covers the second case-study in this book. It analyses the evolution of the Turkish official discourse on Syria, specifically regarding an intervention in the framework of responsibility to protect (R2P). In this chapter, discursive differences between Libya and Syria are shown. The chapter explains the increased securitisation of Turkey’s Syria discourse and the use of the R2P’s intervention component. It also assesses the contestations and hegemonic coalitions of this discourse in the political apparatus. Moreover, the chapter describes how identities are (de)constructed in the identity apparatus and logics of equivalence and difference are established in the discourse apparatus. The chapter also states the discourses about refugees and the Security Council. Finally, Turkey’s internal identity problems are discussed.
Birsen Erdogan
7. Conclusion
Abstract
In the conclusion, findings of the research are summarised in an analytical manner. In this part, the instability of discourses and identities are highlighted. Each discourse tries to fix a meaning by othering or excluding alternatives and by essentialising identities. Yet, in the social terrain, discourses cannot isolate themselves from others completely, as they are contingent and social. Furthermore, discourses are split and contested within themselves. Moreover, subjects are dislocated in times of transformation. This makes subjects insecure but also gives them opportunities to change. In this regard, this research makes conclusions about the R2P as a hegemonic norm and Turkish subjectivity as an unfinished and challenged hegemonic project.
Birsen Erdogan
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Humanitarian Intervention and the Responsibility to Protect
verfasst von
Birsen Erdogan
Copyright-Jahr
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-47683-4
Print ISBN
978-3-319-47682-7
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47683-4