The path to an entrenching alliance: utilitarianism and historical institutionalism in committing to NATO's missile defense system

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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 fi nally agreed to participate in NATO’s missile defense by hosting the system’s radar site in September 2011. Th is 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. Assessing these alternative approaches, we bring together the strength of each school’s theoretical toolbox in order to off er a complementary explanation of Turkey’s commitment to the alliance.