Turkey: The Bridge Between The East and The West

Turkey: The Bridge Between the East and the West

Among the rising nations in today's global economy, Turkey stands in the fore front in becoming a new global political and economic force. Its deep history of Ottoman rule transitioning to a Modern Republic have allowed it to participate actively in the world arena. It's strategic geographical location, ties to Islamic traditions, and western policies have made it a key player in building a bridge between the conservative east and liberal west.

In regards to its political-economic philosophy, Turkey can be best described as a Liberalist country which promotes liberty and equality for all people in the economy. Since the fall of the Ottoman Empire, the Turkish Republic has been an active and even founding member in many organizations that promote Turkey's participation in the global economy as well as maximizing global welfare. Turkey is a founding member of the United Nations, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), the OIC (Organization of the Islamic Conference) and the G-20 major economies. It is a major candidate in becoming a member of the European Union. It has proven its capability of working in the global arena and opening its doors to trade.

Because of the steps it has taken to modernize as well as its strategic geographic location, Turkey has served as the bridge between the Arab world and the West. The West has sought a more liberal and enlightened regional power to coordinate the Arab world due to frustrations dealing with Revolutionary Iran and ineffectual Wahhabist Saudi Arabia (Hen-Tov). Due to this reality, Turkey has demonstrated a Transformationalist pattern of globalization. A recent poll posted in an article in the Al Jazeera broadcasting network showed that, "...43% of Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip view Turkey as the regional country that is most supportive of their cause." (Adoni). This shows that the center of influence which was once Egypt has shifted to Turkey since the same statistic showed that Egypt came second with just 13%. After Prime Minister, Tayyip Erdogan, blasted Israel for the deadly Israeli commando attack on a flotilla attempting to send aid to the Gaza strip, much respect and admiration came Turkey's way also indicating that it is emerging as the new regional leader. Turkey demonstrated its influence by openly challenging the way the United States manages its issues in the Arab world (example: the Israeli-Palestine conflict) by announcing that it, along with Brazil, had made a deal with Iran to ease a nuclear standoff (Bremmer).

In Turkey, it seems that winners and losers are Natural, Inevitable, and Evolutionary). Though it has elements of a state capitalist economy, 99% of all Turkish businesses are SMEs (Small Medium Sized Enterprise) (Yalcinkaya). This goes to show that those who make the right decisions have the equal amount of opportunity as anyone else. For many years however, Turkey has been trying to become a part of the EU. Even though it has made the proper steps to get in some crucial choices have complicated the issue and further complicated its relationship with the EU. The bold statements by Turkey's Prime Minister about the Israeli flotilla incident shocked the EU and US and seriously hurt Turkey's chance of getting in.

In regards to the concept of global cities and the competitive advantage of nations, Turkey is rapidly developing into a modern global city. Because it's deep history with Islamic traditions an interesting dichotomy has become present within its borders. One type of people are those who are have completely integrated western ways in terms of fashion, entertainment, and culture while another clings to the traditional Muslim way of life which reflects general conservatism. In the past this dichotomy has hindered Turkey's ability to progress in the global world due to distrust of the failed Ottoman empire ways, but recently an attitude of and coexistence has emerged between the two classes of citizens. This is perhaps mainly due to the