ISTANBUL: After months of tension that almost triggered military intervention, Turkey has reached a crossroads. The crisis grows from one pivotal question: Must democracy be secular?
Turkey's military and political old guard claim that the modern system introduced by Kemal Ataturk to replace the Ottoman caliphate almost 75 years ago separates mosque and state. Article 2 of the Constitute declares Turkey's secular identity; Article 4 says Article 2 can never be changed.
Yet the largest bloc of voters in the December 1993 democratic elections, which were weighted in favor of traditional political parties, supported Refah, or Welfare, Turkey's largest Islamist party. Despite weeks of efforts by the same traditional elites to block it, Refah went on to form a coalition government. The most secular state in the Muslim world suddenly had an Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, who espoused some openly Islamist goals.
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Americans have long seen their country as morally exceptional, but their exceptionalism actually comprises three distinct views. Whichever prevails in next year’s presidential election will have significant implications for ongoing conflicts in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
identifies three strands of the concept and their implications for US foreign policy after next year’s election.
With a likely rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in the 2024 US presidential election, America and the rest of the world were heading into a perilous period even before the latest conflagration in the Middle East. Turmoil in the region will cloud the broader economic outlook – and could dim Biden’s chances.
worries global economic and political developments will put Donald Trump back in the White House.
Around the world, foreign-policy strategists are grappling with new international dynamics, from the Sino-American rivalry and ongoing hot wars to the broader breakdown in multilateral global governance. However, there is much debate about whether global power and alignments are truly shifting, and in what ways.
consider whether the world will become more multipolar or “non-aligned” in the new year.
ISTANBUL: After months of tension that almost triggered military intervention, Turkey has reached a crossroads. The crisis grows from one pivotal question: Must democracy be secular?
Turkey's military and political old guard claim that the modern system introduced by Kemal Ataturk to replace the Ottoman caliphate almost 75 years ago separates mosque and state. Article 2 of the Constitute declares Turkey's secular identity; Article 4 says Article 2 can never be changed.
Yet the largest bloc of voters in the December 1993 democratic elections, which were weighted in favor of traditional political parties, supported Refah, or Welfare, Turkey's largest Islamist party. Despite weeks of efforts by the same traditional elites to block it, Refah went on to form a coalition government. The most secular state in the Muslim world suddenly had an Islamist prime minister, Necmettin Erbakan, who espoused some openly Islamist goals.
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