News
13.05.2025
Institutskolloquium IfP (21.05.25) – “Turkey´s Role as a Middle Power amid Global Turmoil”
Speaker: Dr. Hürcan Asli Aksoy (CATS/SWP, Berlin)
Wednesday, May 21st 2025, 16:00 c.t. / Room 124, Institut für Politikwissenschaft or online via Zoom
About the lecture: The term 'middle power' is employed to denote states that, while not ranking among the great powers, wield significant influence and strategic relevance. Middle powers, particularly outside of Europe, are strategically positioning themselves to navigate an evolving global order —with growing confidence and assertiveness. These states often exhibit a combination of distinctive features such as geographic centrality, demographic weight, economic performance, military capabilities, access to resources, or political charisma.
They are influential enough to be courted as partners—or feared as spoilers. What unites these actors is a foreign policy approach centered on maximizing sovereignty. They occupy potentially pivotal regional or international roles and command capabilities that set them apart from smaller states. A closer examination reveals three common characteristics: a strong emphasis on economic development, prioritization of security and stability, and the pursuit of strategic autonomy.
Turkey exemplifies these traits but distinguishes itself further by overtly projecting its regional power and articulating global ambitions more assertively than many of its Global South counterparts. As a middle power, Turkey could play a constructive role in shaping multilateralism to address global challenges. Yet its capacity to do so is not without limitations—both external and self-imposed.
Dr. Hürcan Aslı Aksoy is Director of the Centre for Applied Turkey Studies (CATS) at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin. Her research focuses on autocratization in Turkey, with particular attention to state-society relations, Turkey’s foreign and security policy in the MENA region and Africa, and Turkey’s relations with Germany and the EU. She has published on topics such as middle powers, civil society, gender, and politics in relation to Turkey and the Middle East. She previously worked as a research associate at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and holds a PhD and MA in Political Science from the University of Tübingen, as well as a BA from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.
The lecture will be held in English