New Directions in Turkey–USA Relations

The relations between Turkey and the USA witnessed considerable volatility and uncertainty during the first decade of the 21st century. The war in Iraq played a major role in the worsening of the relations between the two allies. There were also problems between Ankara and Washington over Turkey's policy toward Iran's nuclear development programme. The efforts of the AKP government to forge close ties with the radical and anti-American political actors in the Middle East as well as the deterioration of the Israeli–Turkish relations also contributed to the strains in the bilateral relationship. However, Turkey's decision to host NATO's radar missile shield system in 2011 rapidly improved Turkey–USA relations. The main argument of this paper is that regional security problems, the decline of American power and the trend toward a multipolar world, and the transformation of Turkish domestic politics were primarily responsible for the emergence of new directions in the bilateral ties between the two countries.