Book Discussion

Dr. Alexander Murinson discussed his

forthcoming book Turkey’s Entente with Israel

and Azerbaijan in the post-Cold War era: State

Identity, Transnational Networks and Security in

Fluctuating Zones of Influence, 1992-2005 in

SETA Washington D.C. Ufuk Ulutas of SETA DC

moderated the discussion.


SETA Foundation DC
November 24th, 2009
by Hailey Cook

Alexander Murinson, an independent scholar,

who received his PhD from the School for

Oriental and African Studies, University of

London, has published widely on Turkish

foreign policy and the entente with Israel and

Azerbaijan. On November 24, 2009 Murinson

discussed his book at the SETA Foundation in

Washington, to an audience of analysts,

journalists, and representatives of the Turkish

and Israeli foreign policy community. In his

book, available as of December 2009, entitled

“Turkey’s Entente with Israel and Azerbaijan:

State Identity and Security in the Middle East

and the Caucasus- in the years of 1992-2005”

Murinson discussed the context by which he

provided his analysis: the emergence of a the

trilateral relationship, after the end of the Cold

War; a period where governments in the region

adopting new, more dynamic, foreign policies

and alliances with neighbors. The bulk of his

research comes from first-hand interviews and

research not previously available in English

language. His main hypothesis is that this

strategic alliance between Turkey, Israel and

Azerbaijan, the “axis of convenience” had

manifested out of a period of convergence;

where Turkey was reasserting its Muslim

identity and capitalizing on its geopolitical

positioning and as the Israeli leadership began

tying itself to the secular, military establishment

in Turkey, establishing itself as a legitimate hub

for the transport of energy to western markets.

This came at a time, Murinson said, where Israel

had begun to expand its foreign policy options

after the collapse of the Soviet Union; and

Turkey emerged as the epicenter of the

relationship. The convergence included

reformation in state identities, the military- as a

security stranglehold- “the state agents as

drivers of the triple entente”, the influence of

globalization-and corresponding networks and

transnational levers, and at the heart, Murinson

says, the security dimension. Since his research

for this book concluded in 2005, areas have

fluctuated. Murinson also noted the epistemic

communities, in the US; in particular the Greek

and Jewish lobby, both “capable of undermining

the US-Turkish relationship.” Murinson

described the Jewish Lobby as “the fourth

unseen pillar, which has great influence over the

triple entente between Turkey, Israel and

Azerbaijan.

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