Greek-Turkish Relations

The course provides a broad overview of historical, theoretical, and empirical approaches to Greek-Turkish relations. More specifically, a series of issues are analysed and discussed concerning, inter alia, the agenda of the Greek-Turkish conflict as it evolved since the mid-1970s, the political and strategic parameters of the Greek-Turkish confrontation (through the use of relevant methodological and theoretical tools), the economic aspect of Greek-Turkish relations, the Greek-Turkish arms-race and the United States and Russia's policies as well as those of the European Union and the Atlantic Alliance vis-à-vis Greece, Turkey and Cyprus. Particular emphasis is put on the evolution of Greek-Turkish relations after the critical EU summits in Helsinki in December 1999 and in Brussels in December 2004 as well as on the prospects for the transformation of the long-standing conflict between the two neighboring countries towards a more cooperative relationship. Emphasis in the seminar rests on reading and critical discussion of the relevant literature, the development of the participants’ analytical skills, and learning to do effective oral presentations.

Objectives

With the successful completion of the course students should be able: - to be acquainted with the main points of contention between Greece and Turkey as they evolved over the last four decades - to have a succinct understanding of the reasons accounting for the continuation of the long-standing regional dispute after the end the Cold-War and the collapse of the bipolar international system - to assess critically the role played by a series of state-actors as well as by certain international institutions and organizations vis-a-vis Greece and Turkey - to critically evaluate how major IR theoretical approaches, e.g. political realism and liberalism, may link up with particular aspects of the Greek-Turkish conflict as well as with certain periods of the long-standing dispute, e.g. periods of detente and/or crisis, of non-dialogue and/or of formal or informal negotiations etc. - to make theoretically and methodologically fruitful comparisons between the Greek-Turkish conflict and other "conflict-dyads" in all over the world

Prerequisites

None

Syllabus

Evolutionary configuration of the agenda of Greek-Turkish differences, Political and strategic aspects of Greek-Turkish confrontation, the economic dimension of Greek-Turkish relations, the United States policy and concrete international security organizations (NATO, EU) towards Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, examination of Greek-Turkish relations