Adrian's Reviews > The Great Game in West Asia: Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus
The Great Game in West Asia: Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus
by
by
![99910490](https://images.gr-assets.com/users/1670997349p2/99910490.jpg)
** spoiler alert **
I had a total blast reading Mehran Kamrava's book on Turkey-Iran rivalry and decided to share my review :
Reading this book i finally understood what notions such as soft power , nationalism , ethnicism means in politics and state building and also the multiple dimensions on how they interplay.
I loved the chapter on West Azerbaijan(Iranian province) and The Republic of Azerbaijan (historical land named Aran) and how the latter fabricated history by taking the name of the former region and later claiming union with it(which is part of Iran), followed by the Iranian counterclaim.
Azerbaijan sharing the shiite religious sect and language, and history with Iran (and belonging to former Persia up until 1828) but the Turkic ethnicity with turkey and how the gonverment deals with this duality was also fun to read.
The geopolitics of Turkey , more specifically its ambitions of becoming an energy hub in the middle east, juggling multiple oil pipeline projects with Russia, Azerbaijan , Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan and even Israel was another blast. The dynamics that need to be considered , threats and opportunities faced on a regular basis by Turkey foreign policy makers are incredible.
I also enjoyed the chapter on how Armenia and Georgia's paths diverged right after independence. Georgia, getting in the early 2000 a gonverment led by Saakashvili and his cabinet, all young western educated men ardent in making the state institutions strong and cutting down corruption thus getting closer to EU values with each given year, while Armenia entered in the Karabach war which resulted in scarce commodities and a conflict economy , an economy getting dominated by a few powerful men (oligarchs) that would entrench themselves in the very fabric of the political and economical system, a phenomenon which would stall for decades the development of the country.
Another good chapter was the one on the Fetullah Gulen movement. Starting with the 90s it improved turkey's image by building educational facilities in the Caucasus, Middle East and Maghreb spreading Turkish culture and values.
Gulen and his movement were backed up by the state of Turkey and together, the two entities created an image of Turkey as model country merging moderate Islam with secular values such as a strong educational system, army and economy worth following for other countries , esentially developing soft power.
Later on this partnership continued with AKP and Erdogan.
Eventually and unfortunately the two personalities when having no other rivals (after getting rid of the army generals and Kemalist elites) they became rivals and fought each other politically thus tarnishing all previous efforts of Turkey as a credible model state.
The book was great and the chapters were written by different authors each being a master in his field of research. You are basically reading a collection of research documents put together by a very crafty author which makes them as a cohesive unit.
I was always curious on what the relations of these two powerhouses - Turkey and Iran - are with each other and this book provided that and alot more.
Basically they are rivals competing for influence in the Caucasus and Middle East , they are not large enough to deploy and start long wars due to limited revenue streams but are strong enough to exert influence and hold their own.
They understood that after USSR fall and later US retreat there remained a power vaccuum that needed to be filled in the region so both states stepped up.
They are rivals and compete but they also are interdependent. Turkey needs Iran oil for domestic use as well as the revenue generated by being a oil transit state to Europe. Iran needs turkey to sell its oil and act as a gateway for its products to Europe.
Though rivals ,they respect each other and also share some powerful common goals like : stability in the middle east and ....not letting Kurds craft their own state.
I gave the book 4 stars because i felt that the conclusion was a bit rushed and not that meaty , but this was a great great book !
Reading this book i finally understood what notions such as soft power , nationalism , ethnicism means in politics and state building and also the multiple dimensions on how they interplay.
I loved the chapter on West Azerbaijan(Iranian province) and The Republic of Azerbaijan (historical land named Aran) and how the latter fabricated history by taking the name of the former region and later claiming union with it(which is part of Iran), followed by the Iranian counterclaim.
Azerbaijan sharing the shiite religious sect and language, and history with Iran (and belonging to former Persia up until 1828) but the Turkic ethnicity with turkey and how the gonverment deals with this duality was also fun to read.
The geopolitics of Turkey , more specifically its ambitions of becoming an energy hub in the middle east, juggling multiple oil pipeline projects with Russia, Azerbaijan , Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan and even Israel was another blast. The dynamics that need to be considered , threats and opportunities faced on a regular basis by Turkey foreign policy makers are incredible.
I also enjoyed the chapter on how Armenia and Georgia's paths diverged right after independence. Georgia, getting in the early 2000 a gonverment led by Saakashvili and his cabinet, all young western educated men ardent in making the state institutions strong and cutting down corruption thus getting closer to EU values with each given year, while Armenia entered in the Karabach war which resulted in scarce commodities and a conflict economy , an economy getting dominated by a few powerful men (oligarchs) that would entrench themselves in the very fabric of the political and economical system, a phenomenon which would stall for decades the development of the country.
Another good chapter was the one on the Fetullah Gulen movement. Starting with the 90s it improved turkey's image by building educational facilities in the Caucasus, Middle East and Maghreb spreading Turkish culture and values.
Gulen and his movement were backed up by the state of Turkey and together, the two entities created an image of Turkey as model country merging moderate Islam with secular values such as a strong educational system, army and economy worth following for other countries , esentially developing soft power.
Later on this partnership continued with AKP and Erdogan.
Eventually and unfortunately the two personalities when having no other rivals (after getting rid of the army generals and Kemalist elites) they became rivals and fought each other politically thus tarnishing all previous efforts of Turkey as a credible model state.
The book was great and the chapters were written by different authors each being a master in his field of research. You are basically reading a collection of research documents put together by a very crafty author which makes them as a cohesive unit.
I was always curious on what the relations of these two powerhouses - Turkey and Iran - are with each other and this book provided that and alot more.
Basically they are rivals competing for influence in the Caucasus and Middle East , they are not large enough to deploy and start long wars due to limited revenue streams but are strong enough to exert influence and hold their own.
They understood that after USSR fall and later US retreat there remained a power vaccuum that needed to be filled in the region so both states stepped up.
They are rivals and compete but they also are interdependent. Turkey needs Iran oil for domestic use as well as the revenue generated by being a oil transit state to Europe. Iran needs turkey to sell its oil and act as a gateway for its products to Europe.
Though rivals ,they respect each other and also share some powerful common goals like : stability in the middle east and ....not letting Kurds craft their own state.
I gave the book 4 stars because i felt that the conclusion was a bit rushed and not that meaty , but this was a great great book !
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Reading Progress
August 24, 2022
– Shelved as:
to-read
August 24, 2022
– Shelved
September 8, 2022
–
Started Reading
September 8, 2022
– Shelved as:
west-asia
September 8, 2022
– Shelved as:
politics
September 8, 2022
– Shelved as:
middle-east
September 9, 2022
–
3.0%
"Funny how as Erdogan uses the ethno-nationalistic narrative to keep the grip on the power chanting "we wuz Ottomans, we are turks , its us vs them (kurds,armenians,syrians) the same way president Petrosian of Armenia and Alyiev of Armenia prolong the conflict of Nagorni-Karabach indefinitely.
Must be really scary to better put your people through war and poverty then to cede power."
Must be really scary to better put your people through war and poverty then to cede power."
September 9, 2022
–
3.0%
"While Georgia hoppes on the EU/US bandwagon due to russian threat , Armenia inversely went all in with Russia against Azeri and Turkish threat to its existence , Azerbaijan kept a more styled evenhanded approach with all actors (Iran,Turkey,EU,US, Russia) and on the side become the main muslim economic partner of Israel having contracts of no less then 40 billion usd ,sending oil for weapon systems."
September 9, 2022
–
10.0%
""Middle-East is the most penetrated political sub-system in today's world.It is neither absorbed by the outside challenger nor later released from the outsider's smothering embrace. A penetrated system exists in continous confrontation with a dominant outside political system"
Genius ! If you look at Iraq , Syria , Caucasus its exactly like this : Iran , Turkey , Russia etc continously meddling with internal affairs"
Genius ! If you look at Iraq , Syria , Caucasus its exactly like this : Iran , Turkey , Russia etc continously meddling with internal affairs"
September 10, 2022
–
12.0%
"The problem in the middle East today is that no country has been able to reinforce nationalism in their citizens. Nationalism guarantees mass indoctrination through education and guarantees the state's legitimacy , therefore the masses accept the rule of the elite (gonverment).
Nationalism was destroyed by US and Israel interventions that caused humiliating defeats (Iraq,Afghanistan) so the states are impotent now."
Nationalism was destroyed by US and Israel interventions that caused humiliating defeats (Iraq,Afghanistan) so the states are impotent now."
September 19, 2022
–
25.0%
September 21, 2022
–
25.0%
"Quite unexpected that Baku is the one pushing irredentist agenda towards Iranian Azeris hoping to create tension and inoculate a view of "United Azerbaijan" even though the territory of Iranian Azerbaijan has never been part of the newer post soviet republic. If former gonverments were directly attacking Tehran , current Aliyev regime has toned down officialy and moved toward sneakyapproach (World Azerbaijani Forum)"
September 22, 2022
–
40.0%
September 23, 2022
–
40.0%
"There is the land of Aran(current republic of Azerbaijan) and Iranian Azerbaijan (north Iran)
Rep of Azerbaijan has always been part of Persia
1828 Russians take Aran
1918 Emerges the state of Azerbaijan
Iranian azeri dont get why their northern brothers do not use Aran for their new country.
Come 1990 and Rep of Azerbaijan pushes for "United Azerbaijan" , the two regions never having been a united nation"
Rep of Azerbaijan has always been part of Persia
1828 Russians take Aran
1918 Emerges the state of Azerbaijan
Iranian azeri dont get why their northern brothers do not use Aran for their new country.
Come 1990 and Rep of Azerbaijan pushes for "United Azerbaijan" , the two regions never having been a united nation"
September 23, 2022
–
40.0%
"So azeris put aside their historical name which is Aran and name their country Azerbaijan (which is a different region to the south and much bigger belonging to Iran) so that they can later start spreading bullshit and irrendist slogans "United Azerbaijan" , "The southern issue" , pan turkism.
That is how you fabricate history."
That is how you fabricate history."
September 25, 2022
–
40.0%
"Former IRGC commander rejects Azerbaijan Republic proposals to build a turkish academy in Iranian Azerbaijan.
Iranian azeris counter Azerbaijan claims of an United Azerbaijan (with the Iranian part) by proposing Azerbaijan join Iran like in the past during Persian Rule. Azeris can have a lot of more impact by joining Iran.
As a matter of fact the current supreme leader of Iran , Ali Khamenei is Azeri."
Iranian azeris counter Azerbaijan claims of an United Azerbaijan (with the Iranian part) by proposing Azerbaijan join Iran like in the past during Persian Rule. Azeris can have a lot of more impact by joining Iran.
As a matter of fact the current supreme leader of Iran , Ali Khamenei is Azeri."
September 25, 2022
–
40.0%
"Basically:
Iran held both north and south Azerbaijan.
Russians occupied north and then left , and North became today Azerbaijan.
Now these dudes claim the south too while the south (iranian part) counters this saying North should rejoin Iran.
In time both Tehran and Baku understood that these tensions are not productive and either side annexing the other is futuristic and bilateral relations are more important."
Iran held both north and south Azerbaijan.
Russians occupied north and then left , and North became today Azerbaijan.
Now these dudes claim the south too while the south (iranian part) counters this saying North should rejoin Iran.
In time both Tehran and Baku understood that these tensions are not productive and either side annexing the other is futuristic and bilateral relations are more important."
September 25, 2022
–
40.0%
"Besides Iran and Turkey
, Russia exerts both soft and hard power in Caucasus as well as former Ussr states.
In Georgia and Azerbaijan it funds separatists youth movements and makes use of the Orthodox church to promote anti LGBT propaganda thus impeding these states to get closer to Western values of liberty.
Armenia on the other hand is a penetrated system , and is totally dependent hosting military bases."
, Russia exerts both soft and hard power in Caucasus as well as former Ussr states.
In Georgia and Azerbaijan it funds separatists youth movements and makes use of the Orthodox church to promote anti LGBT propaganda thus impeding these states to get closer to Western values of liberty.
Armenia on the other hand is a penetrated system , and is totally dependent hosting military bases."
September 25, 2022
–
40.0%
"Russia instead of using soft power by pouring money in target states , it pours money in target minority regions to keep them close should the need come to exert pressure on the target gonverment. It did and does so succesfully in Abkhazia and Ossetia in Georgia as well as North part of Azerbaijan on the Dagestani minority."
September 27, 2022
–
50.0%
"Fetullah Gulen , a sufi adept of nationalism and soft power promoted between the 90-2013 the expansion of turkish culture through international turkish schools. Together with Erdogan they disposed with mass arrests the Western Kemalist elites as well as the high ranking generals.
After 2010 with no common enemy they turned on each other , Erdogan basically destroying years of pro turkish sentiment in Middle East"
After 2010 with no common enemy they turned on each other , Erdogan basically destroying years of pro turkish sentiment in Middle East"
September 27, 2022
–
55.0%
"After independence from USSR Armenia entered directly in the Karabach war with Azerbaijan. The scarce commodities gave rise to the oligarchs that entrenched themselves deep in the economical and political system , controlling import and export , thus killing any kind of competition , setting monopolies , evading taxes , depriving the state of needed revenue and making it increase VAT on the small businesses."
September 28, 2022
– Shelved as:
2022
September 28, 2022
–
Finished Reading