Adrian's Reviews > The Great Game in West Asia: Iran, Turkey and the South Caucasus

** 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 !