Turkey's global strategy: Turkey and the United States

The recent evolution of US-Turkish relations highlights broader challenges of the transition from American unipolarity to a still inceptive ‘multipolar world’. The relationship cannot be understood unless its evolution during the 20th century is contrasted with the recent reality of the fluid interaction between a self-described ‘emerging power’ (Erdogan, 2011) with regional aspirations and a global superpower with extended interests in Turkey’s many neighbourhoods (including the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Middle East) but a declining international influence.