NCJ Number
225129
Date Published
2007
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This paper identifies the factors that have contributed to differences in foreign policy outlooks between European countries and Turkey, which have in turn facilitated the durability of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK/Kongra-Gel), a terrorist organization that has existed since 1984.
Abstract
The difference in policy views between Turkey and European countries regarding what action to take against the PKK is due to their adherence to different paradigms regarding the management of conflict and political differences. In international relations, most European countries, especially the northwestern European states, view the world from the perspective of interdependency theories or neo-liberalism. Under neo-liberal theory, two types of power exist in international relations. One is defined as “hard power,” which is the ability to get others to do what they otherwise would not do by using threats or rewards. The other type of power is “soft power,” which is the ability to achieve goals through attraction rather than coercion. It works by convincing others to follow or persuading them to agree to norms and institutions that produce the desired behavior. As international institutions develop a normative consensus in how governments, legal systems, and socioeconomic systems should operate, “soft power” becomes more dominant, because states and non-state actors find that it is in their long-term interests to become linked to and comply with the normative consensus of international institutions. Turkey, on the other hand, has tended to view the international system as a self-help system characterized by “anarchy,” defined as a state of disorder and chaos in which states must constantly act in the interest of self-preservation, with military force being an effective instrument of this survival. Under its paradigm, Turkey prefers using “hard power” against the PKK; whereas, European countries prefer to use “soft power.” 32 references