Muhamed Agush

The Turkish Question Revisited: US-EU Relations with Turkey Since 9/11

Principal Supervisor: Dr Tony McCulloch, UCL Institute of the Americas.
Subsidiary Supervisor: Professor Mark Hewitson, UCL School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS).
 

My project studied the nature of US and EU relations with Turkey since 9/11. In examining these relations crucial aspects such as security in the Middle East, democracy and liberal international order, economic relations and Turkey’s membership in the EU are considered.

Despite occasional issues in their relations, there is no doubt that Turkey was a crucial ally of the US and Western European states in the Cold War. The common perception that these countries held of an expansionist, aggressive power - the Soviet Union - united all three to an extent. With this in mind, I try to answer the question of what is new in their relationship since 9/11, and how the US and the EU view the ‘new Turkey’ and form their relations with it in accordance with these new perceptions and the prevailing situation.

My thesis examined the nature of US-EU-Turkish relations since 9/11 through a historical and analytical approach that also makes use of alliance theory.