Turkey-Japan: Dialogue on Global Affairs
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Turkey-Japan: Dialogue on Global Affairs Bahadır PEHLİVANTÜRK* A persistent concern that has gripped These problems are accompanied analysts of the post-Cold War era is by traditional nation-state conflicts as that the dangerous but orderly state seen between Ukraine and Russia, and of world affairs that followed World proxy conflicts over Syria, Iraq, and War II, thanks to the hierarchical Yemen between Saudi Arabia and Iran hegemonic character of the world among others. Yet the most prominent system, would collapse and lead to a security challenges the world has had to new era of uncertainty and increased confront in the mid-2010s has turned conflict. It is highly debatable whether out to be terrorism and uncontrolled the Cold War era was orderly, as one migration. The conflict that wrecked can immediately point to the limited Syria also created ISIS terror and led to but costly proxy conflicts in Southeast the world witnessing terror attacks on Asia, Afghanistan, and a stream of civilians in disparate parts of the globe. wars in the Middle East. Yet, in some It is no longer just residents of conflict circles, there was a nostalgia that the zones that are in danger. Residents Cold War system provided a certain in locations such as France, Belgium, level of stability, and that uncertainty Turkey, and Bangladesh have become loomed ahead.1 While the tragedy of targets, as well as people in Libya, Syria, a great power confrontation seems to and Iraq. The conflicts in the Middle have been avoided so far, apprehension East have also created a migration about uncertainty and low-level problem of biblical proportions, such conflicts with new asymmetrical non- that Europe has not witnessed since traditional security threats acquiring World War II. Arguably these issues a global character seem to have been will not only have social and economic realized. as well as humanitarian repercussions * Asst. Prof. Dr., TOBB University of Economics for the EU, but will influence the and Technology, Department of Political domestic politics of European countries Science and International Relations, Ankara. as well. The role that massive migration E-mail: [email protected] played in the Brexit referendum, in 1 PERCEPTIONS, Spring 2016, Volume XXI, Number 1, pp. 1-9. Bahadır Pehlivantürk which the Leave campaign won with a Cold War conflicts will not revisit four percent margin, is hard to deny. this region. Taiwan remains as one of the potential conflict zones, and most important, now a nuclear North Korea The security environment in East continues its provocative policies with Asia, in the traditional nation- renewed missile and nuclear tests. state based understanding, A peaceful solution scenario for the is also showing symptoms of division of the Korean peninsula is deterioration. still hard to conceive. To this list one can also add the financial crisis of the late 2000s that engulfed the USA and Turkey is one of the countries directly the EU and coincided with an era of influenced by the new atmosphere of relative strengthening of emerging uncertainty and a deteriorating security market economies, which has led to the environment. The conflict zones of the questioning of the West’s leadership mid-2010s, Ukraine, Syria, and Iraq, ability. By the 2010s the recovery still are all in Turkey’s neighbourhood, seems to be slow and fragile, and this and Turkey is on the transit route has been coupled with a worrying of both innocent migrants and the slowdown in the Chinese economy. foreign terrorist fighters of ISIS. If a new economic crisis emerges, These realities have created serious the concern is that this time it might financial and security challenges for also engulf East Asian economies, the country. Although at the other including Japan, which were spared end of the Eurasian landmass, Japan is from the last economic collapse. Thus, also not immune from contemporary even being far from the Middle East post-Cold War challenges. Seven does not assure a secure and stable Japanese citizens were killed in a 2016 future. All of this is happening at a ISIS attack in Dacca. Furthermore, time when the continuity of the US’s the security environment in East commitment to the East Asia region is being questioned, as the US seems to Asia, in the traditional nation-state be preoccupied with problems in other based understanding, is also showing world regions as well as with internal symptoms of deterioration. An social and political problems. increasingly assertive China is posing maritime challenges not only for Japan It could be argued that the most but for various ASEAN countries, defining feature of the early decades and it is far from assured that violent of the 21st century international 2 Turkey-Japan: Dialogue on Global Affairs order is transformation and flux. each other and exchange ideas to find This era coincides with (or from a avenues for cooperation on seemingly neoliberal standpoint is a result of) indirectly related world problems.3 the weakening of US leadership Simple reliance on US leadership in the world. The US and Western and searching for solutions to world dominated liberal international order is problems through large multilateral increasingly coming to be questioned, frameworks are no more deemed prompting calls to put more effort sufficient. The slow and inefficient into finding different ways to inquire reaction to the world problems manifest into international relations.2 The a lack of concord, attributed mainly gradual shift in global order has been to the weakening of the hegemonic 4 progressing for decades. Whether one system in the world. Thus, gradually, is a US “declinist” (a position that seems many countries that were previously to gain popularity once every decade or on the back stage of the world scene so) or not, most seem to agree that the feel the need to come forward and landscape of international politics is in strengthen their direct bilateral a gradual change, and there is a search relations. In this way they deepen their for a new order in which countries insights on world problems by mutual that occupy the second tier of world knowledge sharing. They also pursue politics feel the need to be more active solutions to these problems outside of and outspoken in world affairs. This is the traditional hegemonic framework, manifested by many new groupings of as the world is now deemed too countries emerging in the past decade, complex to be left to the good offices of such as BRICS. But such groupings are traditional hegemonic powers. not the only ones. A new trend which has escaped the attention of analysts A new trend which has escaped to a large extent is the increasing the attention of analysts to a frequency and the scope of bilateral large extent is the increasing ties by countries that have been more frequency and the scope of passive in the past, such as Turkey and bilateral ties by countries that Japan. These countries are deepening have been more passive in the their relations through more frequent past, such as Turkey and Japan. visits and meetings conducted at various levels for the purpose of not only improving direct bilateral relations, but This special issue is a result of such also to deepen their understanding of an effort. The subjects of the articles 3 Bahadır Pehlivantürk in this special issue are diverse. They on Global Affairs.”5 The purpose of range from peacekeeping to bilateral the symposium was to shed light on economic relations, and from analyses Japanese and Turkish perspectives on of foreign terrorist fighters to an different regions and world issues, and analysis of Shanghai Cooperation to create an opportunity for analysts Organization (SCO) as a regional from both countries to come together. platform. This might be one of the most The symposium was followed by a eclectic special issues by Perceptions workshop, which various experts from and at a first glance a common theme the Turkish government, academia, and binding these disparate studies might policy circles attended together with elude the eye. Yet there is a tacit symposium participants. This was the connection in these studies. The articles second such symposium organized, submitted to this special issue are a with the first one taking place in result of a symposium organized by Ankara in November 2014.6 While the Japanese and Turkish governments the first symposium focused mainly and private think-tanks in Ankara on Turkish and Japanese bilateral on 1 March 2016. The motivation relations, the second one had a global of this symposium was the same as scope and focused on many different what is explained above; to increase world issues, not necessarily involving understanding between Turkey and Turkey or Japan directly. This shows Japan, exchange expertise on various that Turkey and Japan, two countries world issues in order to deepen mutual that remained firmly in the US- understandings about world affairs, and dominated Western block during the to lay the groundwork for cooperation Cold War but nevertheless not having concerning world problems. felt the necessity to strengthen direct relations, have decided to change their The symposium was organized attitude and deepen their cooperation by the Ankara based think-tank concerning global problems. The ORSAM (Center for Middle Eastern papers submitted to this special issue Strategic Studies) with the support are either enlarged and modified of the External Relations Presidency versions of studies presented during the of the Republic of Turkey, the Center symposium, or are results of interactions for Strategic Research (SAM) of that took place between Japanese and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkish researchers during the event. the Republic of Turkey and the Japanese Embassy in Ankara, and The papers submitted touch on new was entitled “Turkey-Japan Dialogue issues and report on original research.