AuthorZOU Zhiqiang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University; Postdoctoral Researcher in Political Science, Fudan University.
17TurkishLeftistMovements:1960-1980
AbstractThe period between 1960 to 1980 was quite special in Turkey’s political development process, in which multi-party competitions and alternately taking power of military coups and elected government constituted main characteristics. Against such backdrop, leftist movement experienced the so-called “golden age”. The claims of the leftists in Turkey mainly refer to the path to non-capitalist development, Turkish socialism, revolutionary passions, the role of the army, the Kurdish issue and so on. There were three typical leftist groups, represented by Workers Party of Turkey, the leftist journals and radical leftist groups, whose activities include legal political participation, media, rally and protests. After the military coup in 1980, Turkish leftist forces suffered a heavy blow, and the so-called “golden age” faded away and came to an end.
KeyWordsTurkey; Workers Party of Turkey; Leftist Movement
30AnAnalysisofTurkey’sRefugeeProblemsincetheMiddleEastUpheavals
AbstractThe refugee problem in Turkey started in the 1980s, which has been increasingly deteriorating since the Middle East upheavals. Domestically, Turkey’s unique geographical location, open borders policy and relatively liberal visa policy have made it an important refugee recipient and transit country. Internationally, the refugee problem is not only the result of lasting turmoil and its spillover in the Middle East, but also the outcome of EU policy of externalizing refugee liability. The refugee problem has caused serious political, economic, security and social challenges to Turkey. The continuous turbulence of the Middle East and the expansion of extremist forces have increased the difficulties in the settlement of the refugee problem in Turkey. The imperfection of the refugee regulation and the reluctant attitude of the refugee recipient countries also contribute to the plight of the refugee problem. Solution to the refugee problem not only requires addressing both symptoms and root causes, but also expecting consensus and strengthening cooperation from international community.
KeyWordsTurkey; Refugee Problem; Governance Crisis; Middle East Upheavals
AuthorsYIN Jing, Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Northwest University; HUANG Minxing, Professor, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, Northwest University.
45Turkey-IranRelationssincetheMiddleEastUpheavals
AbstractFor a long time, Tukey-Iran relations have shown the characteristics of co-existence of cooperation and conflicts in general. A historical shift has taken place between the two countries since Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) took office in 2002. The bilateral relations have made much progress; especially after serious disagreements emerging between Turkey and its Western allies on regional affairs, Turkey began to approach to Iran at a tremendous speed. However, Turkey-Iran Relations have suffered new troubles since the Middle East upheavals broke out in 2011 for the issues of Syria, Iraq and Yemen. Certain issues like the Kurds and the NATO radar deployment have spawned the escalation of the conflicts between the two, which has kept haunting Turkey and Iran due to their divergences over their national interests. Overall, the turbulence originated from the Middle East upheavals has revealed systematic divergences over national strategy and geographical interests between Turkey and Iran, however, both countries are apt to downplay the disputes and seek agreements and cooperation propelled by practical mutual benefits.
KeyWordsMiddle East Upheavals; Turkey; Iran; Systematic Divergences; Practical Benefits
“放心吧,底连长,那个鬼子已经死了。”孔老一眯着眼左右一跳,迅速测好距离,再右手一伸,拉抬了一格标尺,把那鬼子套进了准星。
AuthorDU Jun, Ph.D. Candidate, School of History and Civilization, Shaanxi Normal University; Lecturer, School of Politics and History, Ningxia Normal University.
57NuclearTerrorismandNuclearSecurityintheMiddleEast
AbstractSince the suitcase nuclear device became possible, there have been concerns about the likelihood that terrorists would acquire nuclear weapons. Terrorists in the Middle East are the most active. This region entails all four factors that are expected to engender nuclear terrorism in the future, namely terrorists’ willingness, underground market, technology possibility and assembly capacity. Terrorists’ acquaintance of nuclear materials would also shatter the fragile security by causing nuclear anarchy, nuclear proliferation and terror horror. The current atmosphere of political transparency, regional cooperation inefficiency, rampant extremism and sectarianism in Middle East obscure the prospect of anti-nuclear terrorism. It is containing nuclear terrorism that fundamentally requires more open security cooperation and more positive anti-extremism endeavors.
KeyWordsNuclear Terrorism; Nuclear Security; Middle East; “Islamic State”
AuthorZHANG Yuan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Middle East Studies Institute, Shanghai International Studies University.
73Israel’sControversialPolicyofTargetedKilling
AbstractIsrael is the first country in the world that openly uses and legalizes the targeted killing. With escalating “terrorist” activities, Israel’s policy of targeted killing has moved through strategic changes from private reprisal to open and “preventive” actions against Palestinian militants. Even though the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel vs. the Government of Israel (PCATI) legalizes and standardizes targeted killing, the effectiveness and legitimacy of targeted killing in international laws are still controversial. As a policy of counterterrorism, targeted killing’s role in precisely targeting militants, destroying specific militant organizations and ensuring a safer environment in Israel is under question. In addition, there is lack of consensus in the framework of international laws to which targeted killing should apply. Also, PCATI enlarges the definition of “takes a direct part” and “for such time”, and it is hard to act according to the rules of PCATI in reality.
KeyWordsIsrael; Targeted Killing; Counterterrorism; International Humanitarian Law; PCATI
AuthorWU Haotan, Ph.D. Candidate, School of International Studies, Peking University.
86RegionalSecurityProcessintheGulfandSoutheastAsia:AComparativeStudy
AbstractThe Gulf and Southeast Asian countries are both “subregional security complex” in the perspective of security. They share similarities in pluralism of polity, economic imbalance, religious confrontation and great powers’ penetration. During the Cold War, political situations were turbulent in the Gulf region and Southeast Asia. After the Cold War, security mechanism with the ASEAN as the basic framework has been established in Southeast Asia, and shown a development direction toward building a regional security community; while security process in the Gulf region has been stalled in conflicts. Based on comparative study on the security processes in these two regions, this paper holds that regional economic development pattern is the main variable that led to the differences between the two regions. Viewing from the causal mechanism, regional economic development pattern directly leads to the differences among regions and countries in their contact levels and military expenditure. It also affects the competitive situation of regional ideologies and the models of extraterritorial powers’ penetration, which eventually leads to the evolution of regional security along different paths.
KeyWordsSecurity Process; Regional Security Complex; Security Community; Gulf Countries; Southeast Asia
AuthorLIAN Bo, Ph.D. Candidate, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University.
102MaritimeSecurityCooperationintheMiddleEast:AnIndianOceanPerspective
AbstractLocated in the north of the Indian Ocean, the Middle East region has a pivotal geo-strategic status without putting substantive energy sources and connecting several maritime lifelines for East-West shipping. For the moment, the maritime security cooperation in the Middle East region has accomplished certain achievements, including regional security cooperation, joint military exercises of regional countries and security mechanisms established by both world community and regional countries to settle piracy, marine environment pollution and other non-traditional menaces. However, due to game among powers, internal contradiction between regional countries and non-traditional security threat such as pirates, maritime security in the Middle East still face many constraints, including US’s attempts of hegemony, lack of long-term efforts from international community, weak capability of regional countries in maintaining maritime security and intractable deep-rooted causes for terrorism, which makes the future of cooperation even more dim.
KeyWordsIndian Ocean; Middle East; Maritime Security Cooperation
AuthorsFANG Xiaozhi, Ph.D., Associate Professor, International Studies Institute, National University of Defense Technology; HU Erjie, Ph.D., Lecturer, International Studies Institute, National University of Defense Technology.