Accession Number:

ADA370128

Title:

European Security Interests and the Greek-Turkish Conflict: Transforming Old Antagonists into an Archetype of Intercultural Detente

Descriptive Note:

Master's thesis

Corporate Author:

AIR FORCE INST OF TECH WRIGHT-PATTERSONAFB OH

Personal Author(s):

• Ziegler, David Q.

Report Date:

1999-10-15

Pagination or Media Count:

109.0

Abstract:

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have continued publicly since the 1920s and aside from a few occasions where these two Aegean adversaries nearly came to blows, Western powers have largely discounted this enduring conflict. In the post-Cold War era however, with the West facing a startling resurgence of ethno-religious conflicts from the Balkans to Central Asia, this lingering intercultural feud has assumed new relevance. As NATO and the UN struggle to keep a series of regional instabilities from breaking out into even wider wars, they stumble for lack of a coherent strategy to fit a changed global environment. Rather than simply deploying troops to enforce Dayton Accord-style ethnic partitions, Western powers should seek to establish a more permanent peace by constructing exemplars of inter-ethnic and religious harmony. Greece and Turkey are uniquely prepared to become just such an exemplar. Specifically, by offering Turkey a path to EU membership, Europe has the means to begin a process that will ultimately transform these old adversaries into a powerful intercultural model for regional stability. On behalf of Western security interests and their own future prosperity and stability, the EU must seize this opportunity.

Descriptors:

• *POLITICAL SCIENCE
• *WESTERN SECURITY(INTERNATIONAL)
• NATO
• WARFARE
• PEACETIME
• SECURITY
• THESES
• COLD WAR
• ETHNIC GROUPS
• CONFLICT
• TURKEY
• CULTURE
• GREECE
• DETENTE
• SECTARIAN VIOLENCE

Subject Categories:

• Government and Political Science
• Sociology and Law

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE