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4641. Regional Powers in Growing Dialogue: The Brazil-Turkey Strategic Partnership and its Implementation

Author:
Elena Lazarou
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
With a new government in Brasilia, and with Dilma Roussef appearing to distance herself somewhat from some of the most controversial aspects of Lula's foreign policy, speculation abounds regarding how Brazil will follow up on its decisive steps in the Middle East. Iran is a telling, albeit extreme, example. Already, Mrs. Roussef has shown herself to be far more critical of the regime in Teheran, and Antonio Patriota, the new Foreign Minister, has manifested his skepticism with regards to Iranian sincerity, a notable departure from Lula's stance in late 2009 when he publicly asked European leaders to show patience concerning the Iranian case. While we may well be witnessing a change in Brazil's policy towards Iran, this by no means suggests a shift of Brazilian foreign policy interests away from the Middle East. In fact, all signs seem to be suggesting that under Patriota, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry's involvement in and interaction with the region is likely to increase. And while ties with Iran may never reach the level of "warmth" that the Lula-Ahmadinejad handshake suggested, the forecast for Brazil's relations with its real key partner in the region, Turkey, is, if nothing else, promising and likely to endure well beyond the coming year.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Bilateral Relations, Partnerships, Strategic Interests, and Dialogue
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Brazil, and South America

4642. Assessing Iran's Nuclear Program Without Exaggeration or Complacency

Author:
Greg Thielmann
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Arms Control Association
Abstract:
Shortly after the early September release of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report on Iran’s nuclear program, the Arms Control Association assembled a panel of top experts to assess the status of Iran’s nuclear effort and examine strategies to address it. The September 19 briefing for Congressional staffers was part of an ongoing series of briefings organized by ACA and its partners on “Solving the Iranian Nuclear Puzzle.” Along with nuclear terrorism, the potential acquisition of nuclear weapons by states not yet in possession of them is at the forefront of U.S. national security concerns. Iran dominates the field. The following Iran Nuclear Brief by Mark Fitzpatrick, Director of the Nonproliferation and Disarmament Program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, is based on his presentation at the September 19 briefing. It provides a status report on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs and an evaluation of their potential as a nuclear weapons threat.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, National Security, Nuclear Weapons, Terrorism, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

4643. The IAEA’s November Report on Iran: More Confirmation than Revelation

Author:
Greg Thielmann and Benjamin Loehrke
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Arms Control Association
Abstract:
The release of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report on Iran’s nuclear program in early November attracted intense media interest and stimulated strong political reactions in the United States and around the world. The IAEA report and its 14-page annex represented a milestone for the Vienna-based agency in terms of its willingness to present detailed information to the public on activities of concern in Iran’s nuclear program. The Arms Control Association provided an in-depth assessment of the IAEA report on November 8, 2011. Yet much of the subsequent press coverage has been inaccurate in its comparison of the IAEA’s latest report with past characterizations of Iran’s nuclear activities – most notably, the public summary of the 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Estimate. The following Iran Nuclear Brief elucidates the similarities and differences in those two documents, incorporating an earlier article by ACA’s senior fellow, Greg Thielmann, and Benjamin Loehrke, senior policy analyst for the Ploughshares Fund, which was published in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on November 23, 2011.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Nuclear Weapons, and International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

4644. Just Expectations: A Compilation of TESEV Research Studies on the Judiciary in Turkey

Author:
Eylem Ümit Atılgan, Meryem Erdal, Mithat Sancar, and Suavi Aydın
Publication Date:
02-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Since the European Union membership process has gained a central position in politics, Turkey has become focused on reforms and change. However, this requires not only political will but also social acceptance, as Turkey’s drawbacks originate also from the social mentality as much as from the state tradition. Therefore, how social perception is changing in the areas expected to go through restructuring and how ready the society is for the possible reforms is a very important question. TESEV studied this issue within the scope of a research on “Social Perceptions and Mentality Structures” a few years ago and presented the results of this research to the public in the format of four separate books. In addition to ideological frameworks such as religiousness, secularism and nationalism, these studies addressed the general approach to the state and the patriarchal environment evident in families, and revealed how perceptions are changing at the individual and collective level. However, there is another very important stratum between political will and social ownership, and Turkey’s need for reform perhaps shows itself most keenly at this point. This stratum is the state institutions. It looks like it is a must for virtually the entire bureaucracy, and mainly the armed forces, the judiciary and the police, to restructure in terms of mentality, organization and functions. Taking this into consideration, Turkish Economic and Social Studied Foundation (TESEV) Democratization Program (DP) decided to continue its studies on “Perceptions and Mentalities” with bureaucratic institutions and address the judiciary as the first institution. One of the main reasons behind this choice was that there were very few studies on the judiciary, an institution that is in a central position in terms of democratization, law, and state-citizen relations in Turkey. Taking this shortcoming into account, a research series comprised of three separate studies that complement each other were prepared with the aim to inform and guide the public debate on the judiciary in Turkey. Based on these research projects conducted between early 2007 and mid-2009, TESEV DP published three separate books on the judiciary in Turkey. It should be noted that the study does not cover the developments taking place in the judiciary after the first half of 2009. The first book authored by Mithat Sancar and Eylem Ümit Atılgan attempted to shed light on the mentalities of judges and prosecutors and how they approach 2 the concepts of state, justice and rights. The second book authored by Mithat Sancar and Suavi Aydın aimed to determine the perception of justice in the society and the functionality attributed to the judiciary as an institution in the public mind. The book demonstrates that terms such as equity and criminality are interpreted within a pragmatic framework, and reveals the social perceptions that hamper the establishment of an understanding of law based on universal principles. The third book authored by Meryem Erdal takes a look at the press as an essential area that functions as a bridge between the judiciary as a bureaucratic institution and the way justice and law are perceived in the society. This is mainly because the support of a powerful media is a requirement for the institutional transformation of the judiciary based on democratic principles and norms as well as for the formation of the social perception that seeks a transformation as such. This English edition consists of an extensive summary of each of these three books with the aim to present their core findings in one volume. Turkey’s requirements in its democratization process are the formation of a citizenship in conformity with the universal norms recognized today, along with its administrative mechanisms. The bureaucracy of law and, hence, the judiciary are in a central position as the indispensible guarantees of such a transformation. We hope that this study will make serious contributions to discussions on the reforms that will be made in such an important area...
Topic:
Democratization, Law, European Union, Media, Justice, Judiciary, and Society
Political Geography:
Europe, Turkey, and Middle East

4645. Towards Turkey’s New Constitution

Author:
M. Murat Erdoğan and Serap Yazıcı
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Turkey’s need for a new constitution is accepted by almost everyone today. In fact, this was a need that has been in existence since the day the 1982 Constitution was made, for the 1982 Constitution was not only antidemocratic in terms of the method it was made, it also did not fit the ideal of a democratic and pluralist-liberalist society in terms of its content. Indeed, with characteristics such as its official ideology, its hierarchical model that renders the society subject to the state, its unionist-uniformist structure that sees differences and diversity illegitimate and its sacrificing freedom for authority, the 1982 Constitution is far from the standards of today’s democracies, and goes against the structure and needs of the society in Turkey. Since the day it came into effect, various amendments have been made in the 1982 Constitution, essentially as a result of this need. Yet, although these amendments, particularly those made in 2001 and 2010, made considerable contributions to the liberalization and democratization of our society, this situation has not removed Turkey’s need to make a completely new constitution. Moreover, these amendments have also disturbed the current constitution’s integrity within itself. On the other hand, in the face of the will of voters revealed in the 2010 referendum on the constitutional amendments, making a new constitution has now become an urgent task that can no longer be ignored. During the last few years in Turkey, the method that should be pursued in making the new constitution has been broadly debated in the public. Foreseeing that political parties would open to public debate their own views and suggestions on the new constitution during their election campaigns, our working group had already announced to the public that the parliament formed at the end of this election would have the power to make the new constitution. Since then, various civil initiatives and formations have carried out activities to collect the demands of the people on the matter of the constitution, or opened their own suggestions to public debate. Meanwhile, news that some major political parties were also in similar preparations appeared in the media. As a result, in line with our own expectations and foresights, it is understood that this election campaign will also become a constitution campaign and that the new parliament formed after the June 2011 elections will embark on the task of making a new constitution. Accordingly, this situation has made it urgent for TESEV, a non-governmental organization, to share with the public its main views and suggestions regarding the new constitution.
Topic:
Law, Reform, Constitution, Justice, and Judiciary
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

4646. How Legitimate Are The Kurd’s Demands? The Kurdish Question Through The Lens of Turkey’s West

Author:
Dilek Kurban and Yılmaz Ensaroğlu
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Generally speaking, it is fair to say that there was consensus in all meetings that the Kurdish Question is Turkey’s most important challenge and blocks the country’s path in many ways, and that it calls for an urgent solution. But participants raised quite different viewpoints, diverse and at times diametrically opposite approaches on how to name and define the issue, reasons for the problem’s emergence, its origins or the paths to solution. Nevertheless, when specifics of the matter were laid on the table, these opposing views converged, and even reached agreement. This is a sign that the long-lasting policies implemented to create a society of fear have had a certain degree of influence but could not subjugate the society entirely. As a matter of fact, it needs to be noted that at the meetings held in provinces assumed to harbor highly negative opinions on the Kurdish Question, even those participants who define themselves as nationalists (milliyetçi) or secular nationalists (ulusalcı) and are expected to react most harshly and irreconcilably to Kurds’ demands often did not draw their “red lines” too far from those drawn by people with more moderate views. For instance, the majority of those participants stated clearly that Kurds’ demands about human rights and Turkey’s democratization were legitimate and their reaction or concerns were limited to demands regarding ‘terror’, the Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK) and Abdullah Öcalan.
Topic:
Minorities, Domestic Politics, and Kurds
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

4647. What the Neighbours Think

Author:
Grenville Byford
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
It is surely remarkable that 78% of TESEV’s respondents have watched a Turkish TV series. ‘Valley of the Wolves’, anyone? It would be easy to make light of this finding, but it is arguably the most important bit of data to emerge from TESEV’s recent survey of The Perception of Turkey in the Middle East 2010. The message is clear, “Make more soap operas!”. The overwhelmingly positive impression of America in Europe before and after the Second World War was made in Hollywood. Before Vietnam, America seen from abroad, was a country where the Sherriff wore a white hat and the good guys always won. Not to mention the fact that immigrants generally became millionaires – unless they became (very sexy) gangsters. Remember also, that one of the key things that undermined the Berlin wall was the television images that showed life really was better on the Western side. Turkey’s ability to entertain the Middle East is an important asset and the government should do all it can to encourage the continued development of the Turkish media and entertainment industry. The money is nice of course, but it is about more than just money. There is however, a caveat. To succeed, an entertainment business must “entertain”. Bureaucrats and politicians however, only become entertainers accidentally. Generally as a result of things they have done which they wish no one had ever found out about. Encourage the talent by all means, but don’t dictate the end product. Al Jazeera is probably a good example of a media investment which is paying political dividends. There must surely be times though, when the Qatari government profoundly wishes Al Jazeera’s reporters and presenters in hell. So far though, they seem to have remembered that Al Jazeera’s success (and its positive impact on Qatar’s image) depends on its journalists being willing and able to call a spade a spade.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Government, Public Opinion, and Media
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

4648. The Political Economy of the Media in Turkey: A Sectoral Analysis

Author:
Ceren Sözeri and Zeynep Güney
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
When we say “media”, we think of a wide range of activities including news, commercials, films, music, discussion programmes, contests, arts and sports. When we consider that all these activities are associated with the cultural and intellectual world of a society, the importance of the media sector for modern societies becomes more highlighted. Since the media sector carries a unique importance compared to other sectors, the issue of by whom and how these activities are carried out also becomes important. This is because the possibility of private or public power centres regarding the media as a tool to manipulate their own interests is not something that can be ignored. On the contrary, since it is prone to be abused exactly for this purpose in modern societies, the media has always been a sector that requires public regulation. Just like the energy, water and communications sectors. As the modern life, getting more and more complex every day, increases the demand for communication, the communication technologies also develop. And the development of communication technologies changes the modern man and his knowledge and perception on the society in which he is living and the world. It can be said that the process we call “globalization” is exactly this, and virtually all the changes indicating this process are the work of communication technologies and the media. While the physical existence of the world is becoming smaller in the eyes of the modern man thanks to the opportunities provided by communication technologies and the media, the modern man starts to attribute more importance to his own life, his own choices, values and thoughts. Just as the awareness that the mankind has long been mistreating the world caused an increase in environmental actions, the importance that individuals, as consumers and political subjects, have started to attribute to their own demands today causes a new and democratic production approach called “flexible production”, and raises the notion of a “participatory” democracy. In today’s world, the importance of the media, which we are trying to underline, stems in particular from its power to shape the perceptions, thoughts and values of people. Similar to how media is the first to come to mind as a propaganda tool in events of conflicts and wars, media is also the first to come to mind in the shaping of economic and political expectations. Therefore, the idea of controlling the media and thereby securing an influence on the expectations, thoughts and perceptions of the whole society makes the media indispensable for some power holders, and the media sector becomes the focus and domain of the quests for “power” in the society. On the other hand, media encourages people to get informed about themselves and their societies, and therefore has a key importance in the formation of a more democratic society. The learning process of the society requires time, and debates carried out through the media speed up this learning process. Programmes on various subjects speed up the information uptake of the society and help shaping and spreading individual and social thoughts and views. Therefore, the media is an indispensible instrument in the democratization processes of societies. This study was prepared by Ceren Sözeri and Zeynep Güney, and focuses on the structural characteristics of the media sector in Turkey. The authors address the sector-related regulations and the developments occurring during the course of time in these regulations, and then provide an assessment of the place of the media sector in Turkey’s economy. In this framework, the authors analyze not only the competitive structure created in the sector by the companies and company groups operating in it, but also the structures of the subsectors forming the media sector. Sözeri and Güney also address the labour relations and working conditions, a subject that rarely finds its way into this type of studies. This dimension, also addressed with regard to subsectors, has in general made significant contributions that deepen our thoughts on the problems seen in the media. By supporting this study by Sözeri and Güney, TESEV Democratization Program adds to the light it has already shed on the other problem areas of the society. And it is very clear that these efforts mean making important contributions to the development of the mentalities in Turkey.
Topic:
Political Economy, Democracy, Media, and Economy
Political Geography:
Turkey and Middle East

4649. Communicating Democracy – Democratizing Communication: Media in Turkey: Legislation, Policies, Actors

Author:
Dilek Kurban and Esra Elmas
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
The report offers a comprehensive critical analysis of Turkish media in view of the social, political and ethical task of democratization.
Topic:
Democratization, Communications, Media, and Ethics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and Mediterranean

4650. Running out of Options: Tracing Rural Afghan Livelihoods

Author:
Paula Kantor and Adam Pain
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract:
In 2002-03, AREU documented the livelihoods of dozens of households across rural Afghanistan. When research teams revisited a selection of these families in 2008-09, they found the majority worse off than before, with many struggling to meet even the most basic of day to day needs. This paper documents the converging set of pressures that have set so many families on the path towards poverty in recent years. Faced with drought, rising food prices and a ban on lucrative opium poppy farming, many households diversified into nonfarm labour as a means to cope. In some cases, this was successful; households able to tap into urban employment opportunities or political connections improved and occasionally flourished. However, for the majority diversification was not enough. The disappearance of opium farming as an engine of growth coupled with multi-year drought left many local economies unable to absorb the flood of new workers. As wages fell and jobs grew scarce, many families grew increasingly dependent on charity, credit and food aid to make ends meet. In this precarious position, shocks such as spending on ill-health or major social events were enough to put many livelihoods in jeopardy. As costs mounted, households were forced to resort to increasingly damaging strategies to stay afloat, selling off land and marrying their daughters early to secure bride prices. In the light of these problems, the paper highlights a need for policymakers and programmers in the agriculture and rural development (ARD) sector to balance their current focus on markets with greater efforts to stabilise vulnerable livelihoods. Interventions must find ways to protect the basic livelihood security of the most poor, prevent damaging loss in the face of downturns and promote rural Afghans’ capacities to take advantage of new opportunities, all while recognising that social factors such as gender norms or local power structures pose substantial obstacles to improvement. In many cases, helping people guard against damaging losses may need to be coupled with ARD efforts that look beyond local bounds, expanding labour opportunities in urban centres both at home and abroad.
Topic:
Security, Agriculture, Poverty, and Rural
Political Geography:
Afghanistan and Middle East