There are many reasons to be hopeful about the election results in Bosnia and Herzegovina. After a very long time the Social Democratic Party (SDP) received the highest number of votes in the Bosniak-Croat Federation, and on the state level pulling in interethnic votes by re-electing Ivo Komsic, the Croat member of the Presidency. The election of Bakir Izetbegovic, the son of the legendary leader of the Bosniak independence movement, Alija Izetbegovic, is also a positive development. Bakir Izetbegovic is considered a moderate compared to the former Bosniak member of the Presidency, Haris Silajdzic, who regularly spoke of putting an end to Republika Srpska, further straining relations between Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE Chair:       İhsan Dağı, METU Speaker:       Roger Cohen Date: October 21, 2010 Thursday Time: 16.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

CONFERENCE Organized by Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategic Research Centre (SAM) Politics, Economics and Social Research Foundation (SETA) Global Political Trends Center (GPOT) Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) USA Consulate General of Istanbul Date: 15-16 October 2010 Venue: Yildiz Technical University Presidential Hall

The “Lieberman Plan” aims at removing Israel’s “effective control” over Gaza, without compromising Israeli security or intruding upon its own sovereignty.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos stormed a passenger ship, the Mavi Marmara, the largest boat of a flotilla of six boats which were carrying 10000 tons of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, in international high waters. The operation left 9 activists dead and over 30 activists wounded. The flotilla attack started a new trend for Turkish-Israeli relations. For the first time in history, Turkish citizens were directly exposed to Israeli aggression. In this sense, the attack constitutes a break in Turkish-Israeli relations. It is now not only Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians that will shape the nature of Turkish-Israeli relations, more than anything else, but it is Israel’s steps towards salvaging bilateral relations by reassuring the Turkish nation and state.

14 Haziran 2010 Ceylan InterContinental Hotel - İstanbul Konuşmacılar: Abellah Boussole,Basheer Nafi,Burhan Köroğlu,Bülent Aras ,Cengiz Çandar,Fahmy Howeidi,Hatem Ete,Jawad Al Hamad,Mustafa Al-Labbad,Mustafa El-Murabit ,Nelly Hana,Pakinam Sharqawee,Rafik Abdessalem Bouchlaka,Taha Özhan,Talip Küçükcan,Tarek Abdelgelil,Wesim Kalajieh

Since September 11, 2001, America's foreign policy and the future of the global system have occupied a central place in current international affairs debates. The neocon arguments became increasingly influential during the last years of the Clinton administration and found resonance in the Bush administration. In the aftermath of the 9/11 events, both the ideological arguments and the excuses were in place for the realization of the neocon project. This period witnessed the deterioration of already weakened international institutions and the "global order." The end results were, among other things, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the tacit support for the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza. The overall political cost of all these policies was roundly criticized by many and analyzed as the paramount example of American "unilateralism."

"All options are on the table” is the best phrase to describe how Turkey feels about Israel’s attack on humanitarian aid flotilla carrying more than 600 activists from 32 countries. What happened on Sunday night is a real game changer. Israel will, most likely, no longer be seen as a friendly state nor an ally, but will be treated as a rogue state by Turkey.

Turkey's soft power is on the rise in the Middle East and there is a widespread positive perception of Turkey's involvement in the region.   SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Organized by SETA &Al Sharq Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies   Chair:       Bulent Aras, SETA & Istanbul Technical University Panelists:       Mustafa Al Labbad, Al Sharq Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies     Akif Kireççi, Bilkent University Date: April 08, 2010 Thursday Time: 10.30 – 12.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Chair: Taha Özhan, SETA Panelists:        Bülent Aras, SETA & İTÜ     Mahmood Monshipouri,     San Francisco State University Date: March 22, 2010 Monday Time: 11.00 – 12.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Chair:       Bulent Aras, Bulent ARAS, SETA, Coordinator, Foreign Policy Studies Panelists:        Robert Malley, International Crisis Group, Middle East and North Africa Program Director     Joost Hiltermann, International Crisis Group, Deputy Program Director, Middle East and North Africa     Peter Harling, International Crisis Group, Project Director (Iraq, Lebanon and Syria) Date: March 12, 2010 Friday Time: 13.00 – 14.15 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

It was a disappointing moment for Turks to learn that the foreign affairs committee of the US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to approve a resolution describing the massacre of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the first world war as genocide. Turkey recalled its newly appointed ambassador to Washington, Namık Tan, for consultation a few minutes after the vote. It is no secret that there is an "Armenian question" in Turkish-American relations, which has resulted in a seasonal oscillation in bilateral relations around this time of year for many years.

Today, genetically modified organism (GMO) foods are front and center in the discussion on food sustainability. While some allege that interfering in the genetic makeup of food items such as corn and wheat will be a hazard to human health and jeopardize the future of humankind, others view GMO foods as a ray of hope for impoverished nations. Claims that the world’s population is growing rapidly and that the world’s current food stock will not be able to meet the demands of this new population also affect the debate. Undoubtedly poverty and hunger are significant and life-threatening issues for human beings, and history provides evidence that starvation has wiped out entire generations, permanently transforming the demographic makeup of the earth.

Orta Doğu siyasetinin kadim aktörlerinden İran, bölgedeki etkisini artırıyor mu? İran, nükleer çalışmalarını hangi gerekçelerle temellendiriyor? ABD’nin nükleer tehdit algısı ne kadar gerçek? Diplomatik müzakereler nükleer krizi çözebilir mi? Türkiye bu süreçte nasıl bir rol oynuyor ve oynamalı? İran, dünya siyasetindeki yeni yapılanmaların neresinde yer alacak? “İran Nükleer Programı ve Orta Doğu Siyaseti” son yılların en gerilimli süreçlerinden olan İran-ABD nükleer krizini farklı ve derinlikli bir perspektifle ele alıyor. Nükleer krizin siyasi, iktisadi, psikolojik ve ideolojik arka planını masaya yatırıyor ve okuyucuya kapsamlı bir analitik çerçeve sunuyor.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s visit to Ankara last Tuesday is important for the current state of Turkish-Iraqi relations. The visit focused on trade and security, and these are two crucial areas for both countries

The Alliance of Civilizations initiative is one of the major attempts of our day to bring different cultures and civilizations together. Like all great ideas, it has arisen out of a need to address a problem: the problem of recognizing cultural differences without denying their existence on the one hand, and without turning them into causes of conflict and war, on the other. In a world in which all of us passionately seek a moral and political center, the need for uniting rather than dividing is obvious. Reaching that goal, however, remains a daunting task.

Iraq is like a miniature of the Middle East with its population structure and social characteristics. Each domestic actor in Iraq has relations with ethnic and religious groups in the neighboring countries.