Nora Fisher Onar

The Decentring Agenda: Europe as a post-colonial power

The aim in this contribution is to amplify the call, articulated across a range of disciplines relevant to international politics, for a paradigm shift that decentres the study and practice of Europe’s international relations. Such a perspective is necessary both to make sense of our multipolar order and to reconstitute European agency in a non-European world. The analytical categories proposed in this article for a decentring agenda – provincialization, engagement and reconstruction(s) – can help to navigate the nexus of the empirical and the normative in such a decentring process. Applying the decentring logic to the EU’s own foundational narrative, the authors suggest that, only by acknowledging the inflections of colonialism in the EU project itself, can the Union reinvent its normative power in the 21st century.

Constructing Turkey Inc.: The Discursive Anatomy of a Domestic and Foreign Policy Agenda

The article draws on speech act theory to argue that Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wields a discursive repertoire that consists of four main narratives: a democratization, a (post-)Islamist, an Ottomanist and a Turkey Inc. story. It examines the illocutionary intent, that is, the ways in which discourses are used to co-ordinate policy and strategically project appeals to specific constituencies. It also examines the perlocutionary uptake of these discourses, namely, the ways in which they are received by target audiences. This makes it possible to unpack the tensions which obtain within and across narratives, and account for the apparent contradictions in AKP positions on a range of issues. The overarching argument of the article is that the partys prime purpose is to establish Turkey Inc., that is to position Turkey as a (soft) power hub and gateway for transactions across its multiple regions and hinterlands, the other discourses in the repertoire, the article contends, are harnes...The article draws on speech act theory to argue that Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) wields a discursive repertoire that consists of four main narratives: a democratization, a (post-)Islamist, an Ottomanist and a Turkey Inc. story. It examines the illocutionary intent, that is, the ways in which discourses are used to co-ordinate policy and strategically project appeals to specific constituencies. It also examines the perlocutionary uptake of these discourses, namely, the ways in which they are received by target audiences. This makes it possible to unpack the tensions which obtain within and across narratives, and account for the apparent contradictions in AKP positions on a range of issues. The overarching argument of the article is that the partys prime purpose is to establish Turkey Inc., that is to position Turkey as a (soft) power hub and gateway for transactions across its multiple regions and hinterlands, the other discourses in the repertoire, the article contends, are harnessed to this end.

From Metropolis to Microcosmos: The EU’s New Standards of Civilisation

While some denounce the legacies of colonialism they discern in the EU’s practices and discourse, others believe these accusations to be unfounded, raising the question: how apt is the analogy between the 19th-century standard of civilisation and the EU’s narratives and modes of actions today? In this essay, we address the question by developing a ‘new standards typology’ articulated around two axes: agency denial and hierarchy. These refer respectively to the unilateral shaping of standards applicable to others, and to the salience of Eurocentricism in the way the standards are enforced and structure the international system. Ultimately, we argue that in transforming their ‘continent’ from a metropolis to a microcosmos – from a cluster of colonial capitals to an EU that contains many of the world’s tensions within itself – Europeans have only partially succeeded in transcending their colonial impulses. We conclude by suggesting that the EU’s relevance is grounded in its ability to become a post-colonial power, and that to achieve this, those acting in its name need to remember historical legacies and reflect upon the ‘standards’ that inspire their action.

Crisis or opportunity? Turkey, Greece and the political economy of South-East Europe in the 2010s

During the 2000s, the European Union (EU) and the euro zone provided anchors for regional integration in South-East Europe including the Western Balkans. Today’s crisis has called into question the credibility but not the desirability of that framework, and regional actors can still mobilize building blocks forged in the past decade for much needed bottom-up reforms. The process could be galvanized by a regional insider with economic and political capital. With Greece absorbed in its own crisis, Turkey is a candidate for such a role. Assessing Ankara’s capacity to drive change in the region vis-à-vis the debate over its once touted, apparently moribund ‘zero-problems-with-neighbours’ policy, we argue that Turkey’s most sustained foreign policy success has been in the Western Balkans. This is because its approach complement the soft instrument legacies of the earlier EU framework for regional integration. As such, if Ankara abandons its own commitment to economic and political liberalization, it may forfeit its potential to serve as a leader in the region.

Sustaining engagement? On symmetries and asymmetries in Greek–Turkish relations

1999 was an important year for change and promise in Greek–Turkish relations when the two states embarked upon a new journey of rapprochement in defiance of their historical burdens of suspicion and antagonism. This entailed reframing the relationship as a positive-sum interdependence in the context of a common European future and engagement in new areas of economy, trade, civil society relations (Anastasakis, Nicolaidis, and Oktem 2009). The time, namely the early 2000s, was one of European optimism, characterized by the EU’s central and eastern enlargement, economic growth and prosperity and a trend towards democratic change. The transformation of bilateral relations marked for some a ‘regional success story’ (Rumelili 2007) – a new vision many argued – in a geography long characterized by conflict in its Balkan and Middle Eastern theatres. While long-standing security or high political issues in the Aegean and the division of Cyprus remained frozen, there was engagement in many other spheres at the economic, societal and cultural levels. Over the course of the past 15 years, this undoubtedly created a dynamic and multifaceted bilateral relationship and allowed the two countries to look at their common border not exclusively as a dividing line but as a space for cooperation. Yet how enduring was this new configuration predicated on engagements at the level of ‘low politics’? In the view of one scholarly assessment, the Turkish-Greek story entailed a transition from the ‘fragile détente’ that had punctuated earlier eras to a new threshold of ‘sustainable rapprochement’ (Onis and Yilmaz 2008). Sustainable rapprochement occurs when high-level engagements foster and, in turn, are galvanized by contacts at the non-governmental level. The value of ‘bottom-up’ engagements was clearly demonstrated in the 2000s, when initial diplomatic contacts at the foreign ministerial level yielded agreements in diverse areas from trade and tourism to telecommunications and cultural activities. In the same period, civil society contacts flourished between businesses, tourists, students, scholars, journalists and artists among others. Yet, for these new dynamics to settle into an enduring form of reconciliation – ‘durable partnership’ – progress on so-called low politics must be accompanied by addressing outstanding security problems, as had happened between France and

Former Empires, Rising Powers: Turkey’s Neo-Ottomanism and China’s New Silk Road

This chapter recognizes that in emerging Eurasian powers, imperial pasts are celebrated to harness present political and economic energies. It advances a novel unit of analysis—“former empires/rising powers” (FERPs)—which addresses the Western-centric bias of much international relations (IR), and exceptionalism of much area studies scholarship. Examining Turkey’s neo-Ottomanism, it considers lessons for other FERPs, especially China’s new Silk Road. Recognizing the difference in magnitude between these neo-imperial projects, it nevertheless notes that China leaves behind its “short twentieth century” as a middle power to (re)claim great power status in an age of heightened uncertainty. China therefore might note from Turkey’s experience as an ambitious middle power that neo-imperialist rhetoric can obscure the challenges facing its realization.