Arda Özkan - Böcker

The situation in the Balkans, such as the solution to the status of Kosovo, is currently the largest international political problem in Europe, with the potential to burst into a world crisis regarding the Eastern - Western relations. On the other hand, a successful solution to the problem in the Balkans could serve as a model for solving the Muslim - Christian tensions elsewhere in the world. It is the intention of this book to contribute proposals for solutions to the problems of Balkans. The starting principle for the solutions to be effective is that they should come in a natural way from the people below and should not be enforced by the political elites from above. Based on self-determination of nations as a starting principle, they should encourage intra-regional cooperation among the regional entities (economic, cultural, sport, as a basis for political, social understanding and cooperation); secondly, accelerate their economic, political and social development and thirdly, as a final step enable the inclusion of the Balkan countries into the European Union.

As an important aspect of human polity, the concept of security has an important place and space in politics. Though regularly mentioned or referred, the concept is rarely given a proper definition, usually left in the shadows of politics and policymaking and usually referred as a cause to an effect. Within the framework of this book, classic, modern and post-modern security issues are analyzed, while also focusing on the classical and diverse conceptual dimensions of security, current problems are also evaluated, especially in the axis of post-modern security studies. In security studies, a distinction is usually made between classical and post-modern approaches, but in this study, both are considered together. One of the important features of this work is that it offers a perspective from Turkish experts on the concept of security in international relations.

The Middle East: Crises, Conflicts, and Wars aims to evaluate the Middle East through international politics with diverse theoretical frameworks. Chapters have been written by many contributors who explore the Middle East from multiperspectives. The scope of this book is very comprehensive and many relevant issue areas are examined. In addition to focusing on the different perspectives of international relations, current problems are considered, especially in the axis of classic, modern and post-modern security studies. The main issues of Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, the UAE, Jordan, Palestine, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, Bahrain, Israel and Turkey are included. Maritime disputes, the Arab Spring, energy transfer, migration, the EU, hydro-politics, Green Sukuk (green Islamic bond), youth policies and strategic investments in the Middle East, are a number of the topics examined.

Conflict areas and thematic issues of different states of North African are studied in this book. All chapters deal with a wide range of intra-state and inter-state issues. Some of the chapters focus on the domestic problems related to consociationalism in different states whereas some of them shed light on minority problems and territorial conflicts or maritime disputes within and between regional states. The scope of the book is comprehensive that many issue areas are being examined in different chapters. In addition, while focusing on the different perspectives of international relations (IR), current problems are evaluated in the axis of both classic and post-modern security theories. Particularly, the chapters on different countries of the region will be an important contribution to the existing academic works and broad analyses about the region will be beneficial to the reader. Also, the political relations of the North African countries with the European, Middle Eastern and Asian countries will be analysed in the book and this will be another important benefit of the book to IR literature.

The Caucasus region and Central Asia covers a large part of the Eurasian. Both regions, where Russia and China have a serious influence and visibility, also have a location that reflects the hegemonic expectations of both these actors. In this context, domestic political developments and even internal conflicts in the region can be linked to the policies of Russia and China to a certain extent and have the potential to affect the motives of these two powers. Although Central Asia is rich in natural resources, it is landlocked and has lagged other nations in terms of agricultural production and industrial development. Although the Caucasus is divided into the North, the territory of Russia, and the South, where three independent states are located, it is insufficient in terms of production and development. The Caucasus stands out especially with energy projects and its feature of being a commercial corridor.