The West’s Eastern Outpost
Membership won with blood shed in Korea, missiles bargained over in the Cuban crisis, embargoes and the S-400. Turkey’s NATO journey is a story of trust and suspicion spanning more than seventy years.
Author
Sezai Akyüz
40 articles · Writing for PUGAT 2021–2026 · 3 series
Articles
An Alliance Without an Enemy
When the Soviet Union collapsed, NATO lost its enemy. The alliance redefined itself through new missions stretching from the Balkans to Afghanistan and through eastward enlargement, while relations with Russia swung from partnership to confrontation.
War Impossible, Peace Unattainable
For forty years Europe was divided between two armed blocs, yet the great war never broke out. NATO’s role in the Cold War lies in the logic of deterrence that created this strange balance.
A Spy Story: The Founding of NATO
A physicist who carried the secrets of the atomic bomb to Moscow, promises made at Yalta and a city fed from the air for months. Within four years, yesterday’s allies split into two camps and NATO was born.
They Won, Everyone Lost
In modern wars even the stronger side cannot win a decisive victory. The US and Israeli war against Iran has also stalled in a state of neither war nor peace without reaching its goals; every side will declare itself the winner, and the peoples will be the losers.
Mending the Crack in the Mirror: Walking with Confidence, Not Fear
Explaining the rise of the far right in Germany through politics alone falls short. The issue lies in the fear of people who feel forgotten. The author argues that the answer lies not in fear but in confidence.
Why Is the Far Right Rising in Germany?
How does the far right rise in a modern, prosperous and democratic country? Economic anxiety, the resentment of the East, the migration debate, the pandemic and the energy shock are all intertwined.
The Vicious Circle of Terrorism
Children who lose their families in the middle of war and cross borders barefoot may, if no one takes care of them, become the young people most easily recruited by tomorrow’s radical organisations. How can the vicious circle of terrorism be broken?
From Ruins to the Top: Lessons from History for Turkey
Germany and Japan emerged from the war in ruins and within a few decades joined the world’s largest economies. Why has Turkey, which has not experienced a major war on its own soil for a hundred years, not made the same leap?
Lemon Sellers and Cashiers
“If need be, I’ll sell lemons” has given way to “I’ll become a cashier”. On the debate over the lieutenants expelled from the Turkish army, from the pen of a writer who lost his job by emergency decree: the value of labour and the loss of merit.
