Report Presentation: Trends in Turkish Foreign Policy and Implications for the U.S.-Turkish Strategic Partnership

Welcoming Remarks

• Kadri Tastan, Senior Fellow, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Discussants

• Stephen J. Flanagan, Senior Political Scientist, RAND Corporation
• Magdalena Kirchner, Country Director, Afghanistan, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung
• Soli Özel, Professor of International Relations and Political Science, Kadir Has University

Moderator

• Ian Lesser, Vice President and Executive Director, Brussels Office, The German Marshall Fund of the United States

Stephen J. Flanagan, Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation and Magdalena Kirchner, Director of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s Afghanistan Office, will present findings from a forthcoming RAND report. The report explores the key challenges confronting the U.S.-Turkish partnership over the coming decade and recommends possible initiatives to sustain it during what is likely to be a turbulent period. The analysis assesses the political, social, and economic trends that are changing Turkey's internal dynamics and global interests, explores Turkey’s changing relations with key neighbors and partners including NATO and the European Union, and compares how Turkey’s interests and those of its neighbors and partners converge, diverge, or are in conflict. Finally, the researchers assess the implications of these trends for U.S. foreign policy, defense planning, and the U.S. Army. The research was conducted by experts at the RAND Corporation, a U.S.-based non-profit, non-partisan research organization with affiliated offices of RAND Europe in Cambridge and Brussels.

This roundtable discussion is part of a series of events and analyses organized as part of the GMF-TOBB Fellowship on Turkey, Europe, and Global Issues, launched by GMF in partnership with the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) in 2017.

If you have any questions, please contact Jorge Felix at [email protected].