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The Role of the “Middle Powers” in Shaping the New International System: The Case of Türkiye
Within the new multipolar international system the role of non-Western centers of power increased dramatically. The middle powers began to undergo a new stage of transformation of behavior and positioning within the international system. Against this background, Turkey began to position itself as a “transregional” power. This status of Türkiye is manifested in the spread of influence in three priority areas: Islamic, post-Ottoman and Turkic/post-Soviet. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the evolution of Türkiye's international positioning and to justify the place that it is striving for within the modern international system during the period of the Justice and Development Party (JDP) in power. An excessively ambitious foreign policy for a middle power can be considered untenable due to a number of systemic and internal factors. However, although Türkiye's attempts to change its international status are not sufficient to achieve the status of a global power, they create the basis for reconsidering the approach to Türkiye as a middle power.