European Sky Shield Initiative | Capacities, Criticisms, and Türkiye’s Contribution
The European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI), spearheaded by Germany, emerged in response to escalating missile threats, particularly from Russia, following Moscow’s aggressive actions in Ukraine
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Türkiye as an emerging actor in global energy politics
For almost 100 years, the security of energy supply has been a crucial part of the agenda in most countries. To increase supply security, countries must diversify their energy sources, supply routes and suppliers as well. As a country highly dependent on imported energy resources, Türkiye has been cautiously trying to take these critical steps for nearly 20 years.
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Donald Trump has made a fast start to his second term as the president of the U.S., the strongest state in the world. Naturally, not only Americans but also the world's states and nations immediately reacted to this government change. One day after the inauguration of Trump, the leaders of the two rival countries, namely Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, held a virtual meeting.
The Biden administration’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missile systems against targets inside Russia has marked a significant escalation in the war.
The world’s most developed countries convened at the G-20 summit in Brazil to discuss hunger and poverty on a global scale. The possibility of using wealth taxes collected from the rich to address the needs of underdeveloped regions has long been a key topic on the G-20’s agenda.
Türkiye’s foreign policy has been gaining momentum in recent months as a series of developments bolster each other, taking place in quick succession.
One step away from World War III
Speaking for the first time after Sunday's presidential election, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to a question about the possibility of a violent conflict between Russia and the West by describing the current situation as above. Stressing that "everything is possible in the modern world," he argued that, "It will be one step away from a full-scale third world war, but hardly anyone is interested in this." Putin had warned before the election that his country was "technically ready for nuclear war."
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Türkiye's position in multipolar world landscape
The debate on Turkish foreign policy's "axis," "strategic autonomy" and "normalization" policy was recently revived by Parliament's approval of Sweden's NATO membership, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's Cairo trip and Türkiye joining the European Sky Shield Initiative.
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Donald Trump, who seeks reelection in the United States, made headlines with his most recent comments on NATO. It is a well-known fact that he had previously described NATO as “obsolete” and condemned NATO allies that did not meet the 2% defense spending target. This time around, the former U.S. president told a crowd in South Carolina that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to any NATO country that does not meet its financial obligations. He made those remarks shortly after the Republicans blocked military aid to Ukraine and Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the war on NATO’s fifth enlargement in an interview.
An interview and a speech from last week rang alarm bells regarding the fate of world politics. The two-hour interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin was conducted by the American journalist Tucker Carlson, while the speech was delivered at the United Nations General Assembly by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and concluded that the world had entered an “age of chaos.”
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict threatens to spread across the region and exacerbate great power competition. As United States military bases in Iraq and Syria come under drone attacks more and more frequently, a U.S. destroyer in the Red Sea shot down cruise missiles that the Houthi rebels in Yemen fired at Israel – harassing fire from Iran’s proxies.
The non-Western world viewed U.S. President Joe Biden’s visit to Israel as unconditional support for that country’s heavy bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip. Blaming Hamas – “the other team” – for the killing of more than 500 Palestinians at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, the U.S. President neither shared any evidence nor talked about forming an international committee to investigate what happened.
Successfully managing the risk of a confrontation in Syria, the two leaders strengthened their cooperation in a broad range of areas, including energy, tourism and defense. As the bilateral trade volume reached $69 billion, the two nations set a new target of $100 billion. Against the backdrop of the construction of Türkiye’s first nuclear power plant in Akkuyu, there are ongoing talks over the possibility of building another plant in Sinop.
Russia’s suspension of the Black Sea grain deal continues to capture the global media’s attention as that decision disproportionately hurts African nations. Having hosted 17 African heads of state and government last week, the Kremlin used the discourse of “opposing new Western colonialism together” at the Russia-Africa Summit – where Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged free grains to Africa.
Russia declaring the end of the grain agreement, the Prigozhin uprising, and the post-Vilnius Summit show that it wants the cards to be reshuffled. The Prigozhin uprising exposed weaknesses and rifts in the Russian military, resulting in a loss of political reputation for Putin. It has become clear that Russia cannot achieve a clear victory on the front lines in the near future. However, the slow progress of its counteroffensive indicates that Ukraine also cannot achieve a quick resolution. This balance situation indicates that the war could potentially extend over years, unless Putin makes a sudden decision to withdraw. It is known that the Russian military faces significant manpower and logistical challenges. In this scenario where military superiority is not attainable, we observe the use of asymmetric advantages such as the cancellation of the grain agreement.
Sweden made headlines in Türkiye again this week by permitting yet another Quran burning under police protection on the first day of Qurban Bayram, also known as Eid al-Adha. That heinous act took place near a mosque in Stockholm, as had another burning in January, and had absolutely nothing to do with freedom of expression. Quite the contrary, it was a hate crime targeting Muslims and an obvious act of provocation.
