VARIATIONS IN FOREIGN POLICY APPROACHES OF GCC STATES TOWARD TURKEY: SAUDI ARABIA, KUWAIT AND QATAR IN THE CASE OF THE SYRIAN CRISIS

Date

2024-9-4

Author

Cengiz, Sinem

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The Syrian crisis has significantly affected the security perceptions of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states. Although GCC states share several socio-political commonalities, they have approached the Syrian crisis from different perspectives and have developed their foreign policies accordingly. The divergence in their perceptions of the crisis and the tools they employed have significantly influenced the course of their relations with Turkey, a major actor in the Syrian crisis. Through case studies, this dissertation explains the variations in the foreign policy approaches of three GCC states, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar, toward Turkey within the context of the Syrian crisis by drawing insights from Neoclassical Realism (NCR). Challenging the conventional, generalized view of foreign policies of GCC states, this dissertation demonstrates that these states cannot be considered monolithic entities. Instead, it offers a detailed analysis of an often-overlooked aspect of their foreign policymaking to understand their peculiarities: a comparative analysis of their domestic political contexts. It demonstrates how GCC states' distinctive domestic political contexts shape their interpretation of systemic regional incentives and, consequently, their foreign policies formulations. This dissertation examines the extent, conditions, and ways through which multifaceted domestic political environments of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar have shaped their foreign policymaking processes, exploring how internal political dynamics have played a role in redefining Turkey's policies during the Syrian crisis. This dissertation aims to contribute to the literature of Area Studies and International Relations by offering a nuanced understanding of the interplay between domestic politics and foreign policy in the GCC states.

Subject Keywords

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey, Syrian Crisis, Neoclassical Realism

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/111444

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis