Conflict within the Turkish foreign policy decision making mechanism:

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1150144 (Table of Contents)

This thesis presents an analysis of Turkish foreign policy decision making in a theoretical model and argues that Turkish foreign policy is a product of negotiation and compromises among various foreign policy making actors. Theoretical foundation is built on decision units framework advanced by Margaret G. Herman. It applies this framework to two cases and four decision occasions to investigate who made foreign policy decisions and how this influenced foreign policy of Turkey. The first case is foreign policy making of Turkey during the Gulf War (1991). In this case two decision occasions; closure of the oil pipelines and the US military deployment in Turkey are analyzed. The second case is Turkish foreign policy making during the US military intervention in Iraq (2003). For this case, the decision occasions of the US military deployment in Turkey and opening of the Turkish air space to the US are analyzed. After the analysis of four decision occasions, this thesis concludes that the type of decision require different foreign policy making processes and lead to different policy outcomes. The analysis showed that the foreign policy of Turkey is a product of the conflicting views and interests of the various decision making actors. The leadership plays an important role in the decision making. The actors find different ways to manage their differences in order to reach a final decision. This thesis presents an analysis of Turkish foreign policy decision making in a theoretical model and argues that Turkish foreign policy is a product of negotiation and compromises among various foreign policy making actors Theoretical foundation is built on "decision units'" framework advanced by Margaret G. who made foreign policy decisions and how this influenced foreign policy of Turkey. The fust case is foreign policy making of Turkey during the Gulf War (1991). In this case two decision occasions; closure of the oil pipelines and the US military deployment in Turkey are analyzed. The second case is Turkish foreign policy making during the US military intervention in Iraq (2003). For this case, the decision occasions of the US military. After the analysis of four decision occasions, this thesis concludes that the type of decision units has impact on the decision outcomes m four decision occasions. Different decision units require different foreign policy making processes and lead to different policy outcomes. The analysis showed that the foreign policy of Turkey is a product of the conflicting views and interests of the various decision making actors. The leadership plays an important role in the decision making. The actors find different ways to manage their differences in order to reach a final decision.