Publication: TARTIŞMA PLATFORMU / DISCUSSION PLATFORM ULUSLARARASI POLİTİKADA AHLAK VE GÜÇ:* ARAP BAHARI VE TÜRKİYE ÖRNEĞİ**
Abstract
Uluslararası ilişkiler olgusu ve disiplininde en kadim tartışmalardan biri ahlak ile güç arasındaki ilişkinin niteliği üzerinedir. Daha genel anlamda bu tartışma, uluslararası ilişkilerde ahlak, etik, hukuk, insan hakları gibi değerlerin mi yoksa çıkar, güç, güvenlik gibi maddi faktörlerin mi geçerli ve etkili olduğu üzerinedir. Bu çalışma ahlak kavramı üzerine yoğunlaşmakta, ahlaki davranışın uluslararası politikada anlamı, uygulaması ve sorunları konusuna katkıda bulunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu çalışma aynı zamanda ahlak (etik), mevcut hukuka ve kurallara uygun olmaktır şeklinde basit bir tanımdan hareketle, uluslararası iliş- kilerde ahlaki olmanın doğasını ve şartlarını incelemektedir. Uluslararası sorunların çözümü amacıyla yapılacak uluslararası müdahalenin ahlaki olması için üç ön şartın (meşru sebep, meşru otorite ve meşru yaptırım) gerçekleşmesi gerektiğini iddia etmektedir. Bu iddia çalışmada Arap Baharı ve Türkiye örneğiyle test edilmektedir. Arap Baharının özellikle Libya ve Suriye safhalarının uluslararası ahlaka uygun gelişmediğini, bu süreçte rol oynayan aktörlerin oldubittiye getirdiği askeri güç müdahalelerinin Arap Baharının demokratik, sivil ve ahlaki dönüşüm sürecine darbe vurduğunu iddia etmektedir. Zira bu askeri müdahaleler, Arap Baharının karakterini ulusal ve toplumsal düzeyde demokratik dönüşüm olmaktan çıkarıp, uluslararası emperyalist güç mücadelesi haline getirmiştir. Bu süreçte kritik rol oynayan aktörlerden birisi olan Türkiyenin politikası da her ne kadar ahlaki argümana dayandırılmış olsa da, özellikle Suriye örneğinde güç mücadelesi şeklinde tezahür etmiştir. Bu bağlamda çalışmada Türkiyenin Suriye politikasını oluşturan başlıca gelişmeler analiz edilmiştir.
One of the most fundamental debates in international relations, as a phenomenon and a discipline, revolves around the nature of relations between morality (ahlak) and power. From a broader perspective, this debate focuses on whether values, such as morality, ethics, and human rights, or material factors, such as interest, power, and security, should be valid and effective in international relations. This article concentrates on the concept of morality so as to make a contribution to the meaning, application, and problems of morality. In light of a simple definition that morality (ethic) is to abide by, and conform to the rules and the law , this article tries to explain the nature and conditions of being moral in international relations. It proposes that to be moral in an international intervention aiming to resolve an international problem, three preconditions, namely just cause, just authority, and just enforcement, must be met. The article tests these preconditions in the case of the Arab Spring and Turkey. It argues that the Arab Spring did not develop according to morality especially in the cases of Libya and Syria, for fait accompli military interventions by international actors playing a role therein destroyed the democratic, civil, and moralistic process of transformations in the Arab Spring. These military interventions derailed the Arab Spring away from nation-level social transformation and set them to become the stage of international competitions of imperialist power. In the same way, the foreign policy of Turkey, as one of the actors playing a critical role in the Arab Spring process, can be regarded as power politics, especially in Syria, even though it has based itself on the morality argument. From this perspective, the article analyses some developments in Turkey s Syria policy.
One of the most fundamental debates in international relations, as a phenomenon and a discipline, revolves around the nature of relations between morality (ahlak) and power. From a broader perspective, this debate focuses on whether values, such as morality, ethics, and human rights, or material factors, such as interest, power, and security, should be valid and effective in international relations. This article concentrates on the concept of morality so as to make a contribution to the meaning, application, and problems of morality. In light of a simple definition that morality (ethic) is to abide by, and conform to the rules and the law , this article tries to explain the nature and conditions of being moral in international relations. It proposes that to be moral in an international intervention aiming to resolve an international problem, three preconditions, namely just cause, just authority, and just enforcement, must be met. The article tests these preconditions in the case of the Arab Spring and Turkey. It argues that the Arab Spring did not develop according to morality especially in the cases of Libya and Syria, for fait accompli military interventions by international actors playing a role therein destroyed the democratic, civil, and moralistic process of transformations in the Arab Spring. These military interventions derailed the Arab Spring away from nation-level social transformation and set them to become the stage of international competitions of imperialist power. In the same way, the foreign policy of Turkey, as one of the actors playing a critical role in the Arab Spring process, can be regarded as power politics, especially in Syria, even though it has based itself on the morality argument. From this perspective, the article analyses some developments in Turkey s Syria policy.