INSTITUTE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
TURKEY’S BURGEONING ENGAGEMENT IN SOMALIA:
A COMPETATIVE EMERGING POWER IN AFRICA
Aweis Ahmed MOHAMED
MASTER’S THESIS
Supervisor
Prof. Dr. Şaban Halis ÇALIŞ
T. C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü
Bilimsel Etik Sayfası
Bu tezin proje safhasından sonuçlanmasına kadarki bütün süreçlerde bilimsel etiğe ve akademik kurallara özenle riayet edildiğini, tez içindeki bütün bilgilerin etik davranış ve akademik kurallar çerçevesinde elde edilerek sunulduğunu, ayrıca tez yazım kurallarına uygun olarak hazırlanan bu çalışmada başkalarının eserlerinden yararlanılması durumunda bilimsel kurallara uygun olarak atıf yapıldığını bildiririm.
Aweis Ahmed Mohamed
Ö ğ ren c in in
Adı Soyadı Aweis Ahmed MOHAMED
Numarası 1442290001019
Ana Bilim / Bilim Dalı Uluslararasi İliskiler/ Uluslararasi İliskiler Programı Tezli Yüksek Lisans
Tezin Adı
Türkiye’nin Somali’ye Artan İlgisi: Afrika’da Rekabetçi Yükselen Güç
T. C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü
Yüksek Lisans Tezi Kabul Formu
Ö ğ re n c in in
Adı Soyadı Aweis Ahmed MOHAMED
Numarası 1442290001019
Ana Bilim /
Bilim Dalı Uluslararasi İliskiler/ Uluslararasi İliskiler Programı Tezli Yüksek Lisans
Tezin Adı
Türkiye’nin Somali’ye Artan İlgisi: Afrika’da Rekabetçi Yükselen Güç
Yukarıda adı geçen öğrenci tarafından hazırlanan ……… başlıklı bu çalışma ……../……../…….. tarihinde yapılan savunma sınavı sonucunda oybirliği/oyçokluğu ile başarılı bulunarak, jürimiz tarafından yüksek lisans tezi olarak kabul edilmiştir.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
First and foremost, I wish to thank the almighty Allah for bestowing me the guidance and the ability to finish this thesis. I would also like to convey my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Şaban Halis ÇALIŞ for the endless support of my postgraduate study. This thesis would not have been possible without his exceptional guidance, creative suggestions, patience, motivation and support. Besides my supervisor, I am deeply grateful to the rest of my thesis jury: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nezir Akyeşilmen and Dr. Öğr. Üyesi. Segah Tekin for their wholehearted cooperation and insightful comments for my thesis.
A heartfelt thanks goes to the professors of the International Relations department at Selçuk University who have directly or indirectly influenced me with their great and selfless character, and their passionate about wisdom and knowledge during my graduate life at the university. I also extend my sincere gratitude to the Turkish Scholarships (Türkiye Bursları) for granting me the opportunity to study in Turkey with full scholarship. Moreover, I extremely acknowledge the Turkish people for their warm and generous hospitality throughout my graduate school journey in Turkey.
I would always remember with love and affection, Irem Tanın and Mohamed Eusuff Amin, two friends whom I have met in the course of my graduate years and they will always be in my heart because of their genuine friendship, humbleness and accommodating. I also express thanks to my Somali clique of Selçuk University; Shakir Mohamed Abdullahi, Abdullahi Haji Hussein Abdullahi and Abdullahi Ahmed Adam for their countless support, encouragement and for the breathtaking time we had together.
Finally, I would like to show deep gratitude to my family- mother, brothers and sisters, for supporting me spiritually and financially throughout writing this thesis and my life in general.
Aweis Ahmed Mohamed July 15, 2018
T. C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü
ÖZET
Türkiye’nin Somali ile artan ilgisi, Somali’nin kıtanın geri kalanı için Türkiye’nin geçiş yolu olarak görümesi nedeniyle 2011’den beri takdire önemli bir çalışma alanı yarattı. Ne yazıkki, önceki çalışmaların çoğu Türkiye’nin etkileşimin katılımının, birleşiminin, angajmanının niteliğine, başarısı ile zorluklarına odaklanmış ve sonuçları üzerinde nadiren çalışılmıştır. Bu anlaşmaların başlamasından bu yana neredeyse on yıl geçmiş olmasına rağmen sonuçları derinlemesine inceleyen bir akademik çalışma ortaya konmamıştır. Bu nedenle bu tez, Türkiye’nin Somali'den ve bölgeden kazançlarını ve bu kazanımların Türkiye’yi Afrika’da yükselen bir rekabet gücü haline getirip getiremeyeceğini araştırma altına araştırıyor. Tezin savunması Türkiye’nin Afrika’da büyük bir ekonomik ve siyasal güç kazanma olasılığının yüksek olduğunu, ayrıca Somali ile kurduğu çok boyutlu etkileşimlerin bir sonucu olarak kıtadaki stratejik
konumunun ve yumuşak güç etkisinin hatırı sayılır ölçüde artmasını
sağlayabileceğidir.
Anahtar Kelimeler: Türkiye, Somali, Yükselen Güç, Afrika
Ö ğ re n ci n in
Adı Soyadı Aweis Ahmed MOHAMED
Numarası 144229001019
Ana Bilim / Bilim Dalı Uluslararasi İliskiler
Programı Tezli Yüksek Lisans Tez Danışmanı Prof. Dr. Şaban Halis ÇALIŞ
T. C.
SELÇUK ÜNİVERSİTESİ Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Müdürlüğü
SUMMARY
Turkey’s burgeoning engagement in Somalia has generated considerable research interest since 2011, as Somalia has been considered to be Turkey’s gateway in the rest of the continent. However, most of the earlier studies have focused on the nature of Turkey’s engagement and the success and challenges of those engagements whereby the ends of the engagements have been hardly understudied. It is almost a decade since these engagements have been launched and there is no adequate academic studies which has profoundly examined the ends of the engagements. For that reason, this thesis investigates what Turkey would probably gain from Somalia and the entire region and whether those gaining can turn her to be an emerging competitive power in Africa. The thesis argues that Turkey is likely to gain extensive political and economic power in Africa and also could achieve a significant rise of her strategic position and soft power impact on the continent as a result of her multi-dimensional engagements in Somalia.
Key Words: Turkey, Somalia, Emerging power, Africa
Ö ğ ren ci n in
Adı Soyadı Aweis Ahmed MOHAMED
Numarası 144229001019
Ana Bilim / Bilim Dalı Uluslararasi İliskiler
Programı Tezli Yüksek Lisans Tez Danışmanı Prof. Dr. Şaban Halis ÇALIŞ
Tezin İngilizce Adı Turkey’s Burgeoning Engagement in Somalia: A Competitive Emerging Power in Africa
ABBREVIATIONS
AFAD: Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (Afet ve Acil Durum Yönetimi
Başkanlığı)
AFDB: African Development Bank
AKP: Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi) AMISOM: African Union Mission in Somalia
ARS: Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia AU: African Union
BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India and China
BRICS: Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa CGPCS: Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia EIA: Energy Information Administration
EU: European Union
GDP: Growth Domestic Product
ICAO: International Civil Aviation Organization IDB: Islamic Development Bank
IDP: Internally Displaced People
IHH: Humanitarian Relief Foundation (Insan Hak ve Hürriyetleri) IMF: International Monetary Fund
NATO: Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization NGOs: Non-Governmental Organizations
OIC: Organization of Islamic Cooperation
PGM: Project Inspection Engineering (Proje Gözetim Mühendislik) RSA: Republic of South Africa
SFG: Somali Federal Government TFG: Transitional Federal Government THY: Turkish Airlines (Türk Hava Yolları)
TIKA: Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (Türk İşbirliği ve Koordinasyon
İdaresi Başkanlığı)
UAE: United Arab Emirates UK: United Kingdom UN: United Nation US: United States
WFP: World Food Program WTO: World Trade Organization
YTB: Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities (Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Largest Recipients of Turkish State actor’s Assistance...67 Figure 2: Largest Recipients of Turkish NGO’s Assistance………….………..71 Figure 3: Somalia’s geopolitical, geo-economic and geostrategic position……….94
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Bilimsel Etik Sayfası ... i
Yüksek Lisans Tezi Kabul Formu ... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENT ... iii
ÖZET ... iv
SUMMARY ... v
ABBREVIATIONS ... vi
LIST OF TABLES ... viii
LIST OF FIGURES ... ix
1. INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem ... 4
1.3 Objectives of the study ... 6
1.4 The Research Questions ... 6
1.5 Theoretical Framework... 7
1.6 Research Methodology ... 9
1.7 The Contribution of the Study... 10
1.8 Structure of the study ... 10
2. CONCEPTUAL AND HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK ... 12
2.1 Definition of the Key Terms and Concepts ... 12
2.2 A General Review of the Literature ... 18
2.2.1. Africa: A Favored Destination of Emerging Powers ... 19
2.2.2. Turkey in Africa: Aspiration of Ottoman Redux or a Wider Vision? ... 25
2.2.3. Turkey in Somalia: From Humanitarianism to a Log-term Partnership ... 38
2.2.4. Critique of the Literature Review ... 43
3. TURKEY’S BURGEONING ENGAGEMENTS IN SOMALIA ... 45
3.1 Turkey’s Prior Engagements in Africa ... 45
3.2 Turkey’s Prior Engagements in Somalia ... 51
3.2.1. The Ottoman Era ... 51
3.2.2. The Republic Era ... 53
3.2.3. The AK Party Era ... 55
3.3 Turkey’s Burgeoning Engagement in Somalia Since 2011... 58
3.3.2. Political and Security Engagement ... 72
3.3.3. Trade and Investment Engagement ... 82
4. THE IMPLICATIONS OF TURKEY’S ENGAGEMENT IN SOMALIA ... 87
4.1 Rising on Soft power influence and Recognition on International Fronts ... 87
4.2 Political Influence and Rise of Strategic Status ... 90
4.3 Growth of Economic Impacts and Investment Opportunities ... 95
5. CONCLUSION ... 98
REFERENCES ... 101
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study
After the establishment of Modern Turkish Republic from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal, the founder and first president, has introduced numerous reforms with the aim of westernizing the state and society of the newly established Republic.1 One of the significant changes was the foreign policy of the country which he formulated regarding the criterion of the Western civilization.2 From then on, Turkey’s long-standing international relations has been inclined to the West and disregarded the rest.3 Several decades of the unvarying foreign policy behavior, there were fundamental transformations of Turkey’s political structure, economic system, social sections, cultural shape and overall international affairs during the 1980s.4 However, the end of the Cold War and the termination of the bipolar world structure were the critical junctures for Turkish foreign relations from a passive foreign policy behavior to an active one which vigorously interacted the new developments of international politics.5
There numerous cases in point that has shown how Turkey’s behavior in responding to the new world order has changed; from the harsh response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait to the active role in the formation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.6 Similarly, momentous occasions are the grand opening of Central Asian Republics in the early 1990s
1 Binnaz Toprak, “Secularism and Islam: The Building of Modern Turkey”, Macalester International, Vol. 15,
No. 1, 2005, p. 27-32.
2 Şaban H. Çalış, Turkey’s Cold War: Foreign Policy and Western Alignment in the Modern Republic, London:
I.B. Tauris, 2017, p. 11.
3 Şaban H. Çalış and Hüseyin Bağcı, “Atatürk’s Foreign Policy Understanding and Application”, SÜ, İİBF Sosyal ve Ekonomik Araştırmalar Dergisi, Vol. 1, No 6, 2003, p. 196.
4 Mustafa Aydın, “Turkish Foreign Policy at the End of the Cold War: Roots and Dynamics”, The Turkish Year
Book of International Relations, No. 36, 2005, p. 2-4.
5 Sabri Sayari, “Turkish Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era: The Challenges of Multi-Regionalism”, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 54, No. 1, 2000, p. 180-181.
6 Güneş Murat Tezcür and Alexandru Grigorescu, “Activism in Turkish Foreign Policy: Balancing European
and the dealing with the adjacent countries following the Persian Gulf War.7 As a part of Ankara’s newly multidimensional foreign policy plan, the foreign ministry proposed a grand strategy which had been entitled “Opening up to Africa Policy” in 1998 for the development of Turkey’s association with Africa regarding political, economic and cultural aspects.8 Nevertheless, due to grave economic burdens and fragile coalition governments, the policy could not be fully implemented.9 AK party’s majority landslide in the elections of 2002 enabled Ankara to pursue a permanent and intelligible foreign policy towards Africa by announcing 2005 as the “year of Africa.” Besides, with the participation of various distinguished representatives around the continent, Turkey achieved holding the first “Turkey-Africa Cooperation Summit” in Istanbul 2008.10 For further integration and sustainable development in Africa, the succeeding summit of Turkey-Africa partnership was held 2014 in Malabo Equatorial Guinea.11
As a component of this grand scheme of Turkey’s introductory to Africa, Somalia has become an essential position for Ankara’s massive engagement in Africa.12 What did Somalia being the most perceptible country of Turkey’s active involvement in Africa is the enormous humanitarian and then development involvement in Somalia after the worst famine hit the region over decades in 2011.13 Throughout the fatal starvation, the genuine and brotherhood expression of Turkey’s authorities together with the quick response of vast assistance helped its rise in the role of an actor with significant influence and dependable in
7 F. Stephen Larrabee and Ian O. Lesser, Turkish Foreign Policy in an Age of Uncertainty, Santa Monica:
RAND Corporation, 2003, p. 1-8.
8Mehmet Özkan and Birol Akgün, “Turkey’s Opening to Africa”, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol. 48,
No. 4, 2010, p. 532.
9 Ibid., p. 533.
10 Mehmet Özkan, “Turkey’s Rising Role in Africa.” Turkish Policy Quarterly, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2010, p. 93.
11 Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affair, “Second Turkey-Africa partnership Summit”, 19-21 November, 2014.
http://africa.mfa.gov.tr/default.en.mfa (15.1.2018).
12Volkan Ipek, “The 2011 Landing of Turkey on Somalia: A successful Attempt of a Successful Plan”,
European Scientific Journal, Vol. 10, No. 10, 2014, p. 435.
13 Ahmet Yükleyen and Mohammed Zulkarnain, “Turkey’s Foreign Policy in Somalia” Journal of Caspian
Somalia.14 There she strengthened and widened her engagements form humanitarian and development into trade and investment, political and security engagements.15
It has become nearly a decade since Turkey’s active involvement in Somalia has started. It has also been considered, these engagements, as a trial mission for the entire of Turkey’s plan on Africa. In other words, the fruitful outcome of this policy can be weighed, as Özkan argues, the driving force of Turkey’s influence in Africa and the shaping attitude towards Ankara from the rest of the continent.16 Indeed, Turkey’s engagement in Somalia has so far resulted in a positive view from the most of the Somalis.17 For that reason, it would seem the more accomplishment of the strategies in Somali, the more the “reliability and respectability” that Turkey is likely to gain from other countries in the continent.18 All of said that, one may remain inquisitive whether there is a definite correlation between Turkey’s successful engagement in Somalia and the probable turning into an emerging competitive power in the rest of Africa. Therefore, this enquiry will be the core axis of this study and multiple others that will arise from it.
This study critically seeks to analyze how Turkey’s burgeoning various engagements in Somalia and following their accomplishments would lead her an emerging competitive power in the region. Similarly, as one of the essential existing discussions in the discipline of International relations, the study examines the overall rising powers and their growing rivalry in Africa. Once mentioned the emerging powers, it would be imperative considering the traditional ones, and the juxtaposition between them, and between both and Turkey, apropos of their involvement in Africa will be evaluated carefully. It will also highlight the benefits of varied policies of the rising powers engaged in Africa and Somalia, and the
14 Pınar Akpınar, “Turkey’s Peacebuilding in Somalia: The Limits of Humanitarian Diplomacy”, Turkish
Studies, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2013, p.748.
15 Gizem Sucuoglu and Jason Stearns, “Turkey in Somalia: Shifting Paradigm of Aid”, South African Institute
of International Affairs, Report No: 24, November, 2016, p. 19-20.
16Mehmet Özkan, Turkey’s Involvement in Somalia: Assessment of a State-building Progress, Istanbul: SETA,
2014, p. 11.
17Mahad Wasuge and Mary Harper, “Turkey’s Assistance Model in Somalia: Achieving Much with Little”,
Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS), Report, February 2016, p. 28.
detriments they might have throughout their ambitious desire of gaining more influence in the region.
This dissertation produces reliable and sensible research that will make a crucial contribution into the previous scholarships about Turkey-Africa relations in general and particularly Turkey-Somalia relationship. The predominant objective of this work is to determine whether Turkey’s recent activities in Somali would assist being a competitive emerging political and economic influence in the entire African nations.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Throughout the final years of the Cold War and the inceptive years following it, the mainstream of the International Relations’ scholars has been overwhelmed by contrasting speculations about the following structure of the world system. Fukuyama’s argument of prevailing the “Western liberal democracy” that would prompt peaceful world19 and Mearsheimer’s assumption of the more bipolar world and the likely escalation of the crisis, are some notable instances.20
Comparably, a noteworthy alternative one was Huntington’s hypothesis about the likelihood of conflicts among nation states and groups that based on cultural views.21 Nonetheless, Davutoglu’s critique was discrete from the earlier mentioned scholars. He argued that the new inter-cultural rivalries, as a cynosure of international relations, appears to justify a competition to control the core geopolitical and geo-economic zones of the world.22 Without a doubt, the way some of the prominent international politics’ scholars attempted to elaborate the new regional and global politics, so did the states endeavor to adjust their foreign policy to the new world structure.
19Francis Fukuyama, “The End of History?” The National Interest, No. 16, Summer 1989, p. 4
20 John Mearsheimer, “Back to the Future: Instability in Europe after the Cold War” International Security,
Vol. 15, No. 1, 1990, p. 5-6.
21 Samuel Huntington, “The Clash of Civilizations?”, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 3, 1993, p. 22.
22 Ahmet Davutoğlu, “The Clash of Interests: An Explanation of the World [Dis] order”, Intellectual Discourse,
Turkey was one of the states which the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the significant repercussions afterward had profound effect on her foreign policy conduct.23 The transformations of geopolitical, geo-economics and geostrategic landscape did not only led Ankara to pursue assertive foreign policy strategies around its adjacent regions24, but also reinvigorated to engage territories which she had neglected earlier. In general, Africa has become part of the Turkish foreign affairs agenda and has been a target of Turkey since 199825, and Somalia in particular since 201126. At first, humanitarian and development and then political and economic engagements were the critical activities of Ankara regime in Somalia.27 It has been years since Turkey’s active association with Somalia has commenced, and there have been plenty of studies about it.
One of the principal aspects, which previous studies have paid limited attention is following Turkey’s successful engagement in Somalia, the returns that she is likely to obtain and whether these returns would make her a competitive rising power in the rest of the continent, and how Somalia would be a fitting state for Ankara’s breakthrough in Africa. Since the new multipolar word scheme has begun, Africa has been a hub of attraction for the rising powers. That being the case, comparing to the other emerging powers involved in the continent, this study expects to shed some light on whether Turkey’s engagement in Somalia has something in common or not with other emerging powers. On the other hand, recent studies have labeled Turkey’s involvement in Somalia as a successful mission up to now; this study tries to find what has made Ankara’s operation in Somalia being exceptional from the remainder of both the traditional and the rising powers.
23 Meltem Müftüler-Baç, “Turkey’s Predicament in the Post-Cold War Era”, Futures, Vol. 28, No. 3. 1996, p.
265.
24Şaban H. Çalış, “Turkey’s Balkan Policy in the Early 1990s”, Turkish Studies, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2001, p. 135. 25Mürsel Bayram, “Türk Dış Politikasının Dönüşüm Sürecinde Afrika”, Idris Demir (ed.), Türkiye’nin Dış
Politikası: Yeni Eğilimleri, Yeni Yönelimleri, Yeni Yaklaşımları, Bursa: Dora Yayıncılık, 2014, s. 261.
26Ibid., p. 274.
1.3 Objectives of the study
In general, the purpose of this study is to review Turk-Africa relationship, starting from the earliest era to the recent active engagements of Turkey in Africa.
Specifically, the objectives of this research are:
To analyze Turkey’s burgeoning engagement in Somalia, the implications of these engagement and whether these implications would make her as a competitive rising power throughout Africa. To put it another way, after successful engagement in Somalia, what Turkey is likely to gain from Somalia and how and why Somalia is an appropriate place for Ankara’s breakthrough in the continent,
To examine the probable political influence and rise of strategic status that Turkey might have in the rest of Africa via her successful mission in Somalia,
To scrutinize the economic impact that Turkey would possibly have in the region through its efficacious engagements in Somalia,
To investigate the soft power influence that Ankara would likely acquire throughout the continent as a result of its benevolent operations in Somalia.
1.4 The Research Questions
As a consequence of Turkey’s multifaceted engagements in Somalia since 2011, this thesis aims to raise questions that deserve substantial analytical attention. The core question of this study is: following Turkey’s successful engagement in Somalia, what Turkey would ultimately gain from Somalia and is there the possibility that due to those returns Ankara would likely promote as an emerging power in Africa? While finding an answer to this question as the central query of the study, there are some other questions that arisen and can be listed as follows:
What is the probable political influence and rise of strategic status that Turkey might have in the rest of Africa via its successful mission in Somalia?
What is the economic impact that Turkey would possibly have in the region through its efficacious engagements in Somalia?
What is the soft power influence that Ankara would likely acquire throughout the continent as a result of its benevolent operations in Somalia?
1.5 Theoretical Framework
As the scope of this thesis is mainly grounded on the sphere of International Relations’ discipline, it is compulsory to obtain a suitable theory in the field which simplifies explaining and comprehending the subject matter. On one occasion, it has been said a theory is like different pairs of sunglasses with various colored lenses and each pair displays the world as its color is.28 As a result of that, one might wonder in interpreting the motive of Turkey’s engagement in Somalia, then an appropriate theory in analyzing and explaining Turkey’s behavior would be the Constructivist approach. Constructivists argue that despite states are the primary units when analyzing theories in the world politics, yet the system in which those units interact is constructed on their identities and interests as a shared meaning.29 Considering the longstanding and intensely historical association that Turkey and Somalia shared in common and added with the faith-based identity as both states are Muslim countries30, it can be argued that the communal identity of both countries has inspired Turkey’s engagement in Somalia. In addition to the cause of the engagement, this theory is efficacious in appraising the constructiveness of Turkey’s involvement.
A possible alternative theory in elucidating Turkey’s active behavior in Somalia could be Liberalism. The fundamental assumptions of Liberalism in describing global politics are rooted in specific principles such as good governance of intrastate and interstates,
28 Patricia Owens, “Introduction: From International Politics to World politics”, John Baylis, et al., (ed.), The
Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations, Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2017, p.4.
29 Alexander Wendt, “Collective Identity Formation and the International State”, The American Political
Science Review, Vol. 88, No. 2, 1994, p. 385. Emanuel Adler, “Seizing the Middle Ground: Constructivism in
World Politics”, European Journal of International Relations, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1997, p. 322. Ted Hopf, “The Promise of Constructivism in International Relations Theory”, International Security, Vol. 23, No. 1, 1998, p. 174-177. Joshua Goldstein and Jon Pevehouse, International Relations, London: Pearson, 2016, p. 82-84.
30 Oktay Bingöl, “Somali’de Barış ve Kalkınma Sürecinde Türkiye’nin Rolü”, Akademik Bakış, Cilt 7, Sayı
cooperation among states, promoting peace, democracy, morality, justice, and liberty.31 As a result of their rudimentary principals, formulating the foreign affairs of any state is not constructed in pursuing national interest or a reaction towards an anarchic world system, as Realists assume.32 However, liberalism presumes that a state’s foreign policy behavior is rooted in the protection of freedom of individuals, their welfare and overall the basic safety of humanity.33
Due to the food crisis in the region and the altruistic reaction, as a savior, in which Turkey’s engagement has initiated overwhelmingly, one can say Turkey’s policy in Somalia has shown the behavior of Liberalism. Presumably, a context of Liberalist doctrine can be understood Turkey’s prime minister and then president’s argumentative essay after returning a journey from Somalia together with some of his family members and the cabinet. Erdogan described the starvation in Somalia as a test in the meaning of the world’s “modern value,” and that through cooperation among states should be assisted the suffering people as it is a “basic human obligation.”34
Notwithstanding the appropriateness of the both Constructivism and Liberalism paradigms in elaborating Ankara’s intention in Somalia, nonetheless, they do not seem useful to the ultimate intent of this study which is what Turkey would gain after achieving her mission in Somalia, instead of why Turkey went to Somalia. For that reason, Realism appears to be more convenient in answering the inquiry of what. Realists conjecture the
31 Michael Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics”, The American Political Science Review, Vol. 80, No. 4,
1986, p. 1151. Thomas Walker, “Two Faces of Liberalism: Kant, Paine, and the Question of Intervention”
International Studies Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 3, 2008, p. 451. Andrew Moravcsik, “Liberalism and
International Relations Theory”, Centre for European Studies, Paper No: 92-6, April, 2001, p. 13-16.
32Stephen Walt, “International Relations: One World, Many Theories,” Foreign Policy, No. 110, spring 1998,
p. 31.
33Michael Doyle, “Liberalism and Foreign Policy”, Steve Smith, et al., (ed.), Foreign Policy: Theories, Actors,
Cases”, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012, p. 54-55. Tim Dunne, “Liberalism”, John Baylis, et al.,
(ed.), “The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations”, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017, p.116-118.
34 Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, “The Tears of Somalia”, Foreign Policy Magazine, October 10, 2011.
world as an anarchic site where there is no overarching global authority.35 Since the states are the preeminent actors in the international affairs, security and survivability are their vital solicitude.36 On that account, the foreign policy of any state is driven by its national interest and tend to consolidate power as it is the best way to survive in the anarchical world.37 In line with Realist perspective, Turkey, similar to all other states, is pursuing its national interest. Even so, it is important to stress that it is not necessary Ankara’s behavior or pursuing strategies to stand akin to other traditional or emerging powers in the region.38 Having said that, at the end of the day, what Turkey is likely to gain its engagement in overall Africa and, Somalia in particular, is to accomplish its ambition to become a competitive political and economic player in the African continent.39
1.6 Research Methodology
This study utilizes qualitative research method to analyze Turkey’s fruitful involvement in Somalia in the context of a rising competitive power in Africa. The study will primarily rely on the existing and relevant social scientific literature about this topic including books, academic articles, journals; scientific reports, periodicals and policy briefs published by think tanks and other policy institutions. Furthermore, the commentary of experts, politicians, academicians, bureaucrats, policymakers, diplomats, news sources and the overall protocols and agreements relevant to this matter will be considered as valuable sources.
35Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company,
1979, p. 105. Cynthia Weber, International Relations Theory: A critical introduction, London: Routledge, 2010, p.14.
36Robert Jackson and Georg Sørensen, Introduction to International Relations Theories and Approaches,
Oxford: Oxford university press, 2013, p. 66.
37 John Mearsheimer, “Structural Realism” Tim Dunne, et el., (ed.), International Relations Theories:
Discipline and Diversity, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013, p.78.
38 Tom Wheeler, “Ankara to Africa: Turkey’s Outreach since 2005”, South African Journal of International
Affairs, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2011, p. 59.
39 Umut Korkut, Ilke Civelekoglu, “Becoming a Regional Power While Pursuing Material Gains: The Case of
Turkish Interest in Africa”, International Journal, Vol. 68, No. 1, 2012, p. 187. Matthew Gullo, “Turkey’s Somalia Adventure: The Quest for Soft Power and Regional Recognition”, Centre for Policy Analysis and
Notable sources in interpreting Turkey’s humanitarian and development, trade and investment, political, diplomatic and security involvement will be the annual reports of various institutions such as pertinent Turkish ministries, Turkish governmental and non-governmental agencies; for example, “Turkish Cooperation and Coordination agency” (TIKA). The overall existing records in this subject from the international institutions and organizations such as the United Nation (UN), World Bank, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), African Development Bank (AFDB), and African Union (AU) will be useful resources in analyzing this topic.
1.7 The Contribution of the Study
Turkey’s dynamic involvement in Somalia has been lasting years, which is an adequate period to evaluate the success or failure of its mission. Besides, there have been sufficient and well-articulated of studies written about this matter. Nevertheless, most of the prior studies had been focusing on the rationale and procedure of the engagements and failed to cover critically and thoroughly about the journey’s end. That being so, this thesis contributes a critically and convincing analysis about the likelihood of these engagements as a driving mechanism that turns Turkey into an emerging competitive political and economic power in Africa.
Another contribution of this study is the juxtaposition of Turkey’s assertive policies in the region and the rest of the rising powers along with the second-tires and traditional powers which have already involved in the continent. Last but not least, a vitally significant input of this study is providing grounded research that will contribute to the antecedent academic work about Turkey-Africa relations at large and more specifically Turkey-Somali relationship.
1.8 Structure of the study
This study is designed into fiver chapters with each one concentrating on the vital issue of the overall dissertation. The first chapter, which is the preliminary and a key to understanding the rest, discusses the following sections: the background of the study which offers a general knowledge of the thesis. The statement of the problem sheds some light on
the knowledge gap which is supposed to be filled. Another segment is the objectives of the study which highlights the general and the specific objectives of the thesis. The theoretical framework is a critical section which frames the theory of international relation’s field which this thesis is constructed upon it. The last parts are the methodology of the study, the contribution, and structure of the research.
The second chapter talks about the conceptual and historical framework of the study. This chapter builds the core concepts and as well as introduces the variables of the study and gives their general and the working definitions in this study. Moreover, it covers the literature review of the research. The third chapter talks about Turkey’s burgeoning engagements in Somalia. Before discussing the recent engagements, the chapter provides the historical perspective of Turkey-Africa and Turkey-Somali relations starting from the Ottoman era, the Republic and finally the modern epoch. It also highlights Turkey’s engagements in Somalia since 2011 and the various dimensions that Turkey implemented her engagements. The four chapter discusses the variable of the study and attempts to answer the implications of Turkey’s engagement in Somalia. The closing chapter contains a summary of the whole study, provides the key findings and offers the conclusion of the study.
CHAPTER TWO
2. CONCEPTUAL AND HISTORICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1 Definition of the Key Terms and Concepts
One of the fundamental elements of any study is the terms and concepts which configure the foundation for the research, and defining their meaning averts misinterpretation. There are numerous pivotal terms and concepts in this dissertation which will be applied extensively both in the literature review and the overall analysis of the variables of the study. The principal concepts which this study revolves are the concept of engagement which will be divided into humanitarian and development, economic and political engagements; and the concept of emerging power which will also be divided into the emergence of economic and political power. Apart from defining these core concepts, the chapter explores widely the literature of emerging powers emergence and their interest in Africa. The chapter begins to clarify the diverse understandings of engagements acting as the independent variable, and later on describes and discusses the concept of rising power and the relevant terms as the dependent variable of the study.
In the daily connotations, the term engagement refers to scores of different meanings, but the one that comes closer denotation to this study’s end is the action of engaging or being engaged doing something as the Oxford dictionary defines.40 In the same way, in the guise of a concept, it gives many connotes. On one occasion, numerous studies have used “Employee engagement,”41 or “Work engagement.”42 In additional cases, other research papers have employed “Consumer brand engagement,”43“Stakeholder engagement,”44 “Academic
40Oxford Dictionary, “Definition of Engagement in
English”,https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/engagement (21.1.2018)
41Chang-Wook Jeung, “The Concept of Employee Engagement: A Comprehensive Review from a Positive
Organizational Behavior Perspective”, Performance Improvement Quarterly, Vol. 24, No. 2, 2011, p. 49.
42 Wilmar Schaufeli, “What is engagement?”, Catherine Truss, et el., (ed.), Employee Engagement in
Theory and Practice, London: Routledge, 2013, p. 15.
43Rossella Gambetti and Guendalina Graffigna, “The Concept of Engagement: A systematic Analysis of the
Ongoing Marketing Debate”, International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 52, No. 6, 2010, p. 801.
44 Michelle Greenwood, “Stakeholder Engagement: Beyond the Myth of Corporate Responsibility” Journal of
engagement”45 and “Community engagement.”46 An excellent description for the concept of engagement, but rather different aim than the one in this thesis is “a foreign-policy strategy which depends to a significant degree on positive incentives to achieve its objectives.”47 For all that, in this study, engagement refers to country A’s engagement of doing manifold activities with country B to achieve long-term purposes. Therefore, state A stands for Turkey and state B for Somalia, and Turkey’s variety of engagements will be categorized into Humanitarian and development, political and economic engagements. The following sections will give more detailed about these engagements.
Throughout this dissertation, Humanitarian and Development engagement signifies humanitarian and development assistance engagement. A commonly agreed definition of humanitarian assistance is delivering aid to those in need to rescue their lives and decrease their suffering following social conflict or human disaster.48 Development Assistance is also defined as government assistance intended “to promote economic development and welfare of developing countries.”49 Usually, the former is delivered to the states undergoing emergency situations and is an immediate and short-term aid, while the latter is designed the long-term reconstruction and sustainable development.50 Regarding the shortage of food disaster in Somalia, Turkey’s engagement started with humanitarian assistance and then the development assistance.
The majority of earlier studies, political engagement has been used as the meaning of citizen’s political participation or involvement within a country.51 However, in this study,
45Markus Perkmann, et el., “Academic Engagement and Commercialization: A Review of the Literature on
University–Industry Relations”, Research Policy, Vol. 42, No. 2, 2013, p. 424.
46Sarah Bednarz, et el., “Community Engagement for Student Learning in Geography”, Journal of Geography
in Higher Education, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2008, p. 87-89.
47 Richard Haass and Meghan O'Sullivan, “Terms of engagement: Alternatives to Punitive Policies”, Survival,
Vol. 42: No. 2, 2000, p. 114.
48European Commission, “Humanitarian Principles”, August 11, 2017.
https://ec.europa.eu/echo/who/humanitarian-aid-and-civil-protection/humanitarian-principles_en (8.2.2018). OECD, “Humanitarian Assistance” http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/humanitarian-assistance.htm (8.2.2018)
49 OECD, “Net ODA (indicator)”, 2018.https://data.oecd.org/oda/net-oda.htm (8.2.2018)
50 Carmen Mónico and Karen Rotabi, “International Aid, Relief, and Humanitarian Assistance”, Encyclopedia
of Social Work, National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press, 2016.
51 William Galston, “Political Knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education”, Annual Review of
Political Science, Vol. 4, 2001, p. 217-220. Chang Sup Park, “Does Twitter Motivate Involvement in Politics?
political engagement specifies the activities that have shown Turkey’s political involvement in Somalia such as political mediation among the opposing Somali sides.52 Besides, the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries and the extent of the influence which Ankara so far possesses on Somali’s top political decision-makers will be considered as part of Turkey’s political engagement in Somalia.
As Mastanduno indicates, Economic engagement can be noted as economic interdependence which a state uses as a strategy to change the behavior of another state. That is to say, using carrots in the place of sticks.53 Another context of the same meaning, economic engagement has been defined as an economic strategy were a state intentionally enlarges economic relations with an opponent state to shift its behavior.54 Occasionally, concerning these definitions, aid is perceived as a way of economic engagement.55 The consequence of economic engagement under this meaning generates two crucial concepts. Firstly, to prevent the likely conflict among states, it creates an unbroken partnership of trade. Secondly, from the similar and coordinated standpoint, it allows the states a scope of freedom to react in the atmosphere of the world politics.56
Notwithstanding the above economic engagement descriptions, they do not seem applicable in this study, but their mentioning provides substantial evidence for the existence of other definitions. A plausible meaning of economic engagement in this dissertation represents the trade and investment activities in which state A engages with state B, and both states stand for Turkey and Somalia respectively. Contrary to the earlier mentioned definitions, economic engagement does not qualify a strategy to alter the behavior of an
2013, p. 1641-1648. Joseph Kahne, et el., “Building Social Capital for Civic and Political Engagement: The Potential of High School Civics Courses”, Canadian Journal of Education, Vol. 29, No. 2, 2006, p. 387-409
52Ayse Kadayifci-Orellana, “Turkey’s Mediation in Somalia for Peace and Stability”, Doga Ulas Erlap, (ed.),
Turkey as a Mediator: Stories of Success and failure, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2016, p. 116-118.
53 Michael Mastanduno, “The Strategy of Economic Engagement: Theory and Practice”, Edward Mansfield
and Brian Pollins (ed.), Economic Interdependence and International Conflict: New Perspectives on an
Enduring Debate, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2003, p. 175.
54 Miles Kahler and Scott Kastner, “Strategic Uses of Economic Interdependence: Engagement Policies on the
Korean Peninsula and Across the Taiwan Strait”, Journal of Peace Research, Vol. 43, No. 5, 2006, p. 523.
55 Helen Milner and Dustin Tingley, “Who Supports Global Economic Engagement? The Sources of
Preferences in American Foreign Economic Policy”, International organization, Vol. 65, No. 1, 2011, p.58.
adversary or deliberately fostering trade links to another country, but it explains two friendly state relationship which trade and investment of a state result in more influence on the other state and the entire region.
With the rise of enduring discussion on power distribution among states beyond the Post-Cold War years and the shifts in the global balance of politics and economics, the postulation of “emerging” has evolved and was allotted by the academic work of International Relations.57 The term had been borrowed from the Wall Street vernacular and constructed into the “classificatory framework” of international economic and development institutions such as World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Trade Organization (WTO). It has been operated, by these organizations, as an exchange of the term “Developing country” without giving systematic definition.58
The discussion of the term has experienced into another development, and O’Neill has redefined it as “emerging market” while indicating Brazil, Russia, India and China “BRIC” whose economic performance has shown healthier and faster growing than the most significant economies at the time.59 The emergence of these economies has been regarded, by O’Neill, a hierarchical transition of those countries from intermediate to a rise of a higher rank.60 From that moment on, the term “emerging powers” has frequently been used to refer the “BRIC” acronym or “BRICS” added with the Republic of South Africa (RSA), despite as a concept it’s widened to include a broader scope of states.61 On account of their economic and political contest against the Western architected world order, BRICS forum has been seen as a vanguard of the rising powers.62 When emerging powers are placed under one roof collectively, be it BRICS or the second tiers, shared peculiarities that most of the analysts
57Pedro Cezar Dutra Fonseca, et el., “The Concept of Emerging Power in International Politics and Economy”,
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 36, No. 1, 2016, p. 47.
58 Ibid.
59 Jim O’Neill, “Building Better Global Economic BRICs”, Goldman Sachs, Global Economics Paper, No:
66, November 30, 2001. p. 3.
60 Ibid.
61Pinar Tank, “The Concept of “Rising Powers”, Norwegian Peace-building resource Centre, NOREF Policy
Brief, June 1, 2012, p. 2.
62 Niall Duggan, “BRICS and the Evolution of a New Agenda within Global Governance”, Marek Rewizorski
(ed.), The European Union and the BRICS: Complex Relations in the Era of Global Governance, Basel: Springer International Publishing, 2015, p. 11.
describe are the portion of their economic size, their long-lasting ideas of stressing to be recognized as a major power, and their energetic foreign policy which is framed under the objectives of increasing their prestige, power and influence.63
The contemporary meaning of the term “emerging power” arises from the “stretched” adjective of “emerging market” and “travelled” to indicate the burgeoning political and economic influence of these countries in the international arena.64 Thus, the meaning of “emerging or rising power”, as a concept, becomes a state which is counted amongst the “global South” or “third world” countries, with a status of growing influence regarding economic, political and as well as strategic matters.65 Additional denotation that refers the similar or close meaning of the concept is a state whose global influence is likely expanding.66
The oxford dictionary describes the word “competitive” as anyone or anything which has or exhibits a strong ambition to become more “successful” than the rest.67 With regard to this explanation of the word “Competitive”, attached with previous description of the term “emerging power” on the section above, it can be extracted a functional definition of the slightly appeared compound word “Competitive emerging power”. The term “competitive emerging power” refers to a state that displays a powerful desire to be more victorious than others as a means to rise its impact on political, economic and strategic standing.
The established and the rising powers have varied engagements in Africa by and large.68 A potential matter in question is the extent of the interaction on trade and investments that these states engage with Africa. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Africa’s trade and investment affairs have been dominated by the Western trading partners.69
63Andrew Hurrell, “Narratives of Emergence: Rising Powers and the End of the Third World?”, Brazilian
Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2013, p. 204.
64 Lucas de Oliveira Paes, et el., “Narratives of Change and Theorizations on Continuity: The Duality of the
Concept of Emerging Power in International Relations”, Contexto Internacional, Vol. 39, No. 1, 2017, p. 76.
65 Amitav Acharya, The End of American World Order, Cambridge: Polity, 2014, p. 59. 66 Paes, et el, “Narratives of Change and Theorizations on Continuity”, p.75.
67 Oxford Dictionary, “Definition of Competitive in
English”,https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/competitive (10.2.218)
68 Elem Eyrice Tepeciklioğlu, et el., “Turkish and BRICS Engagement in Africa: Between Humanitarian and
Economic Interests”, Munich Personal RePEc Archive, MPRA Paper No: 77549, March 17, 2017, p. 2.
69 Harry G. Broadman, “China and India Go to Africa: New Deals in the Developing World”, Foreign Affairs,
Nevertheless, circumstances have changed, and since the last two decades, most of Africa’s trade and investment occasions for the traditional partners have been challenged by the rising powers whose vigorous activities could be seen everywhere in the continent.70
A conspicuous sign of the new power’s emergence regarding the economic sector is their burgeoning trade volume and massive flow of investments.71 Therefore, in this study, “economic emergence” indicates to the amount of trade and investment of any emerging state is likely to obtain in Africa. Due to the significant share of investment and trade in the continent, it ultimately provides greater influence to that state and strict control of the economic activities in the region.
A country’s balance of capability to face a world without an overarching authority does not only imperative for its economic capabilities but also its political capability plays the most significant role for the existence of the state. As a result, the emerging powers have been attempting to accumulate their political ambitions in numerous ways such as constructing strong diplomatic ties with African states, initiation of various forums and hosting summits with the participation of high level officials, paying official visits by the highest-ranking officials.72What more, when it comes to the international forums, rising powers have been gaining political support from the African nations due to their multilateral diplomacies such as Turkey’s candidacy of the UN Security Council73 and China’s several attempts to block some UN votes against its interest.74 In this dissertation, political emergence stands for the varied political activities of a state which indicates its eager desire to increase its political influence in the world.
Throughout this study, a recurred, and widely used concept will be the concept of soft power and its projection. As Joseph Nye defined, Soft power is one’s ability to gain
70 Ibid.
71Lyal White, “Emerging Powers in Africa: Is Brazil any Different?”, South African Journal of International Affairs, 2013 Vol. 20, No. 1, p. 117.
72Sandeep Chakravorty, “Middle powers Zero in on Africa Opportunity”, Indian Journal of African Affairs,
Vol. 51, No. 3-4, August 2011-January 2012, p. 102-103.
73Mehmet Ozkan, “What drives Turkey’s Involvement in Africa?”, Review of African Political Economy, Vol.
37, No. 126, 2010, p. 536.
results he or she wants by attracting others rather than compulsion.75 He farther discusses three resources that any state’s soft power mostly rests. First is the culture of the country which is supposed to be attractive to others, second is the political values of the state as they meet the expectations inside and outside of the country, and the third is the foreign policies of the state when constructed under the principle of morality and legitimacy.76 Emerging powers have been utilizing soft power projections in various manners, notably Turkey as she plays a central role of this study.77
2.2 A General Review of the Literature
On the one hand, when the scope is preferably broadened, the theme of Turkey’s Africa strategies and involvements have been reviewed its literature in various manners, with explicitly concentrating on the historical ties and Turkey’s policies in the continent. However, a great deal of the published materials on this subject have failed to cover a critical analysis of Africa’s importance as a favored destination for the overall emerging powers and Turkey particularly. Questioning the rising power’s preference in Africa summarizes two significant perimeters which the relation between Africa and emerging powers are mostly discussed: Why they went to Africa and how Africa is prepared to deal with this far-reaching engagements? Furthermore, the rising powers’ involvement in Africa has been growing considerably. Despite the sufficient studies on Africa and emerging powers’ close connection, the number of studies relevant to contrast among them and between the rising and the traditional powers are limited, and their explanation has dealt with restricted areas.
On the other hand, until recently, a substantial amount of literature on the subject of Turkey’s multisided activism in Somalia have been published. The number of publications is confined not only Turkish academicians who mostly analyzed and interpreted the subject matter under the perspective, commendations and recommendations of Turkish authorities, but also there are bulky of non-Turkish academicians whose arguments were critical and
75Joseph S. Nye, “Public Diplomacy and Soft Power”, The Annals of the American Academy of Political and
Social Science, Vol. 616, No. 1, 2008, p. 94.
76Joseph S. Nye, The Future of Power, New York: Public Affairs, 2001, p. 85. 77 Pinar Tank, “The Concept of “Rising Powers”, p. 3.
challenging. Considering everything, the studies of both Turkish and non-Turkish scholars on this topic have tended to be focusing on the means of Ankara’s engagement in in Somalia rather than the possibilities of the ends. Additionally, Somali’s suitability for helping Turkey’s overall intentions in Africa is another factor that needs to be highlighted further. A more detailed explanation of the literature review contents will be discussed in the following sections and there will be a final part which is devoted to the critique of the relevant literature.
2.2.1. Africa: A Favored Destination of Emerging Powers
Bearing in mind its territorial magnitude as the largest continent except for Asia, Africa has been surrounded by the waves of brutal slavery and fierce colonialism over hundreds of years.78 Africa’s suffering continued following its uncuffing the chains of colonialism since it was separated into opposing nation-states that composed of heterogeneous intra-conflicting societies those were marginalized the international politics.79 Moreover, widespread political instability shortly after the independence of many African states, has caused a significant challenge for Africa’s infant democratic institutions and as a result led the continent into severe economic stagnation.80 Paradoxically, the intermittent democratic regimes in the continent were erected on the idealistic concepts of Western political philosophy which is contrary to the principles and norms of traditional African standards.81 Likewise, the Cold War had an immense devastating impact of proxy wars and occasionally direct intervention on the continent as a consequence of the protracted
78Wan Lingying, “Role of Africa: Change and Prospect”, Li Xiaoyu (ed.), Changing Global Security and
China's Response, Beijing: World Affairs Press, 2013, p. 218.
79 Ibid.
80John M. Mbaku, “Political Instability and Economic Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Recent
Evidence”, The Review of Black Political Economy, Vol. 17, No. 1, 1988, p. 89. Augustin Kwasi Fosu, “Transforming Economic Growth to Human Development in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Elite Political Instability”, Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 30, No. 1, 2002, p. 16.
81Francis M. Deng, “Reconciling Sovereignty with Responsibility: A Basis for International Humanitarian
Action”, John W. Harbeson and Donald Rothchild (ed.), Africa in World Politics: Reforming Political Order, Philadelphia: Westview Press, 2009, p. 365. Keith Somerville, “Africa after the Cold War: Frozen Out or Frozen in Time?”, Louise Fawcett and Yezid Sayigh (ed.), The Third World beyond the Cold War: Continuity
ideological rivalry between the capitalist and socialist superpowers.82 Only the termination of the bipolar world structure has marked the initiation of new, but doubtful, and slowly rising expectations for the resurgence of political and economic developments in Africa.83 The opening of the twenty-first century has been acknowledged to a large extent as a prospective juncture for the continent’s substantial decrease of the long-lasting economic marginalization and growing participation in the global politics.84
An outstanding revival of Africa’s fortune was the notable role of emerging power’s manifold and burgeoning activism in the continent since the end of the previous century.85 This momentous phenomenon had not only reshaped the current Africa’s image in the international political and economic landscape, but also reflected as a remarkable prospect for the destiny of the continent.86 Notwithstanding the means employed and the ends pursued by the rising powers’ activism in Africa, they seemed more prominent contributors on financial resources, business acumen, and applying fresh approaches of diplomacy and development towards the continent.87 Based on what drives their engagements whether it is granting Africa as almost unoccupied geopolitical space to extend their influence, a partner with natural resources or an export market, it would be fair to asses this dynamic as a pivotal to the evolving and understanding the continent’s growing significance in the interconnection of global trade, its rising as an appropriate market and its centrality to the emergent world order.88
One of the notable studies which have discussed the theme of emerging powers’ preference in Africa is the work of Francis A. Kornegay and Chris Landsberg. In their article, they have critically examined overall Africa’s centrality in a transitional period of global
82Jeffrey Jame Byrne, “Africa’s Cold War”, Robert J. McMahon (ed.), The Cold War and the Third World,
New York: Oxford University Press, 2013, p. 112-114.
83 Stephen Ellis, “Africa after the Cold War: New Patterns of Government and Politics”, Development and
Change, Vol. 27, No. 1, 1996, p. 1-5.
84 John W. Harbeson, “Intimations of an African Renaissance: Recent Progress, Long-Term Challenges”, John
W. Harbeson and Donald Rothchild (ed.), Africa in World Politics: Reforming Political Order, Philadelphia: Westview Press, 2009, p. 3.
85Nicholas Kitchen, “Executive Summary”, Nicholas Kitchen (ed.), Emerging Powers in Africa, LSE IDEAS,
London School of Economics and Political Science, Special Report No: 016, June 2013, p. 4.
86 Ian Tylor, Africa Rising?: BRICS-Diversifying Dependency, Melton: James Currey, 2014, p. 1. 87 Ibid.
balance of power which determines the contemporary international system of states. The two scholars’ main argument was both the established and emerging powers have targeted in Africa by dint of its mineral resources as they presume it one of the only remaining terrains for exploitation. Furthermore, they have also noted that despite the burgeoning tendency of the emerging and traditional power rivalry for a market resource in Africa, the continent appears to be ill-prepared of having the self-determining authority to control the variable inter-African means and ends in a manner which enlarges the interests of the continent.89
An alternative work is Brendan Vickers’s paper on the rising powers’ renascent involvements in Africa. Referring the emerging powers’ thoughtful consideration in the continent briefly, he divides into two discernible dimensions: market and resources grounds and having more considerable political influence in the status quo. Vickers also discusses how most of the African states are deprived of having politic negotiation techniques and strategies to bargain with their new Southern counterparts. He further indicates that in spite of having several potential sources which African countries can utilize strategically as a tool of bargaining power technique, they have failed to use it effectively. An apparent example which he additionally strengthens the argument is that how the rising powers have developed magnificently a detailed plan for achieving their strategy in Africa such as the summits which each rising power holds with the entire Africa and how the continent is devoid of having a coherent strategy in dealing with emerging powers.90
Another piece that worth mentioning in the literature is the article of Timothy M. Shaw together with two more authors. Apart from pointing out the emerging powers’ employing wide-ranging strategies for their engagements in Africa as crucial players in reordering the international system rather than just the macroeconomic sphere, they have underlined some of the motives of the rising powers who have profoundly presence in the continent. Since Africa encompasses the largest number of states in the world and most of them have ravaged poverty and failure in self-managing internal and external policies, the
89 Francis A. Kornegay and Chris Landsberg, “Engaging Emerging Powers: Africa’s Search for a “Common
Position”, Politikon, Vol. 36: No. 1, pp. 171-191.
90 Brendan Vickers, “Africa and the Rising Powers: Bargaining for the ‘Marginalized Many”, International
emerging powers have got the chance to boost their diplomatic ambition. By hosting bilateral forums and summits with attendance of the African heads of states, the emerging powers have achieved the continent’s empathy in the international forums.91 A leading scholar who is specialized in Africa and emerging powers’ blossoming relations, Christ Alden, argues that on grounds of interest in resources and markets has reinforced the activism of diplomatic missions of emerging powers in Africa.92 His argument can be understood that the premier preference of emerging powers in Africa is for both acquiring trade partners and natural resources rather than gaining political priorities.
Owing to the fact that the emerging powers target Africa on the grounds of its favorable economic phenomenon, Fred Swaniker identifies five fundamental driving forces which fortify the rapid economic growth in Africa. Firstly, the political governance of Africa has been improving since most of the corrupted and tyrannical leaders have been removed from the power and were replaced by new leaders who have shown bona fide leadership for their citizens and guaranteed political stability and peaceful environment in their countries. Secondly, the population of Africa is the youngest and has the fastest growth rate in the world which will promote the continent to have the most extensive workforce in the world within the next thirty years. Thirdly, the cities in the continent are growing fast that more people are moving from the rural to the urban. Hence, the more urbanized people, the more their life turn out to be sophisticated and productive. Fourthly, thanks to the sizeable proportion of the African population who has got higher education opportunities, it appears the number of the better-educated personnel will increase and by reason of that will boost the economic growth of the continent. Lastly, owing to the drastic alteration of demographic and geopolitics in the world, investors of the developed countries prefer Africa for its young and low-cost labor force to achieve the maximum rate of returns and those investments partake the economic growth of the continent.93
91 Timothy M. Shaw, et el., “Emerging Powers and Africa: Implications for/from Global Governance?”,
Politikon, Vol. 36, No. 1, pp. 27-44.
92 Chris Alden, “Introduction”, Nicholas Kitchen (ed.), Emerging Powers in Africa, LSE IDEAS, London
School of Economics and Political Science, Special Report No: 016, June 2013, p. 7.
