Search results

ObjectivesOn March 1, 2003, the Turkish parliament rejected a government motion that would involve Turkey in the Iraq war and allow U.S. forces to use Turkish territory in an offensive against Iraq. This decision has been considered as a significant departure from traditional Western‐oriented Turkish foreign policy. We investigate the reasons behind this rather unexpected foreign policy decision.MethodTo systematically examine the decision‐making process and the outcome, we utilize the "decision‐units framework." We present primary and secondary evidence from government and media sources and utilize interviews conducted with some of the high‐level decisionmakers that were involved in decision making at the time. This article combines traditional methodological tools, such as elite interviews and process tracing, with novel approaches in foreign policy analysis studies.ResultsThe nature of the decision‐unit, decision‐making rules, the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the AKP (Adalet and Kalkinma Partisi—Justice and Development Party) leadership, and the absence of a strong and decisive leader shaped the outcome.ConclusionThe Turkish parliament's decision on its role in the Iraq war is an interesting and informative case for foreign policy studies. It challenges the conventional wisdom on parliamentary influence in foreign policy making in parliamentary regimes. Under certain circumstances—even when a single‐party enjoys parliamentary majority—parliaments can be major players in foreign policy decision making.

Unpacking ego in role theory : vertical and horizontal role contestation and foreign policy / Cristian Cantir and Juliet Kaarbo -- Role contestation in the July 1914 crisis : the British and French cases / Joe D. Hagan -- Active independent or faithful ally? : the domestic contestation of national role conceptions in Australia after World War II / Klaus Brummer and Cameron G. Thies -- Role theory and Japanese security policy / Keiko Hirata -- Contesting Belgium's role in development cooperation / Marijke Breuning -- Domestic sources of changing Turkish foreign policy towards the MENA during the 2010s : a role theoretic approach / Özgür Özdamar -- Intervention : domestic contestation and Britain's national role conceptions / Jamie Gaskarth -- Belief systems and foreign policy roles : role contestation in U.S. foreign policy decisions / Stephen G. Walker, Mark Schafer, and John Beieler -- To be or not to be a state? : role contestation in the debate over Scottish independence / Ryan Beasley, Juliet Kaarbo, and Hannah Solomon-Strauss -- Multi-level role contestation : the EU in the Libyan crisis -- Nicole koenig -- Agents in structures : insights from cases of internal role contestation / Juliet Kaarbo and Cristian Cantir