Mark Leonard's World in 30 Minutes

The World After the West: Ayşe Zarakol on Turkey

Jun 21, 2024

Ayşe Zarakol, an expert on Turkey and international relations, discusses middle power countries' role in shaping global order beyond the West. The podcast explores how Turkey utilizes new international institutions to diversify its alliances and enhance leverage. It also delves into Turkey's evolving foreign policy stance under Erdogan's leadership and the need for Western governments to adapt to changing power dynamics.

26:40

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Episode guests

Ayşe Zarakol

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Middle powers are utilizing new international institutions to advocate for their interests in the evolving global order.

Turkey strategically engages in both Western and non-Western institutions to enhance its global prominence and autonomy.

Deep dives

The Evolving World Order: Middle Powers' Role

Middle powers are embracing a moment of transition amidst the perceived end of the previous world order. While the West frets over the crisis of the liberal international order, middle powers view opportunities in reshaping global politics and are engaging in new international institutions. Their motivation stems from seeking a stronger voice, normative agenda pursuit, and pragmatic interests, exemplified by participation in forums like the Antalya Diplomacy Forum that fosters high-level discussions away from Western-centric agendas.

Intro

3min

Middle Powers Shaping Global Politics

11min

Turkey's Exploration of New International Relations Formats

7min

Turkey's Interplay Between Internal Identity Debates and International Arrangements

2min

Exploring Global Power Alignments and Policy Dynamics

4min

A growth in membership to organisations such as BRICS+, the New Development Bank, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation demonstrates the continued rise of ‘middle powers’ – countries which belong to neither the West nor the global south but play a significant role in the developing world order. This week, the World in 30 Minutes kicks off its new summer podcast series ‘RE:Order: The world after the West’, in which ECFR director Mark Leonard welcome various guests to discuss how middle power countries are using these institutions to advocate for their interests at the global level.

For the first episode in the RE:Order series, Mark Leonard welcomes Ayşe Zarakol, professor of international relations at the University of Cambridge and author of “Before the West: the Rise and Fall of Eastern World Order” (2022), to discuss the framework of global order beyond its Western conceptions. How do middle power institutions leverage their membership to develop an identity separate to the historically dominant blocs? What can non-Western institutions such as BRICS+ offer dissatisfied ‘middle’ countries? And how is Turkey using these in the context of a new global order?

Bookshelf

Before the West: the Rise and Fall of Eastern World Order, by Ayşe Zarakol

The Other Great Game: The Opening of Korea and the Birth of Modern East Asia, by Sheila Miyoshi Jager

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