Turkey's Contribution to NATO's Role in Post-Cold War Security Governance: The Use of Force and Security Identity Formation

Abstract

After the Cold War, NATO formulated its new role on the basis of broader political aims and new security objectives by assuming crisis management operations beyond its borders. This article argues from a constructivist perspective that keen Turkish involvement in NATO out-of-area operations constitutes a context of social interaction that has led to particular identities and certain security policy outputs for both. Turkey's participation in NATO's military operations as the sole Muslim ally, in the post-Cold War era, enabled NATO to build an identity as a global security actor in crisis management while Turkey's active role in these operations served to keep Turkey's sense of prominence in the protection of the universal values and, thus, its claim to Western identity.