Sunday, May 18, 2008

Sha-zam.

I made a blog.

In other news, I'm in Istanbul for most of the summer.

My compatriots in the program have all seemed to begin their blogs with explanations of why, precisely, they're wasting their summer months in a country so devoid of mindless pursuits of pleasure (though actually you'd be surprised). Not being overly enamored with originality, I'll do the same.

1) Some guy I met at CSIS got a job based solely on his experience with and interest in Turkey - it's an underrepresented state in U.S. policy analysis. I wouldn't object to getting a job easily.
2) Turkey is in a key position
a) politically, because it presents a unique opportunity for dialogue between secularism and Islamic fundamentalism. While the stage could be set in Tunisia for a war of ideas across the metric of democracy, such a war is already in full swing in Turkey
b) geostrategically, because it is one of our key lines into the Middle East. U.S. power projection currently depends primarily on Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Unfortunately, Turkey refused to liaise with U.S. forces in the invasion of Iraq, and the future of the U.S. lease on the İncirlik base is uncertain.

3) Given Turkey's importance (refer to 2(a) and 2(b), increased attention needs to be brought to bear on our erstwhile ally from some of the U.S.'s top (but untapped) intellects. That means me!

Anyway. I'm doing a blog, in which I'll do my best to explicate any humble insights I may have into İstanbulu culture and its significance on Turkey's greater place in the world.

3 comments:

Ranger Ron said...

But I thought that they were ne'er supposed to meet. How did this happen?

Unknown said...

I'll hire you! What job do you want?

UncleC said...

So, in what intellectual space do the various parties meet? What are the fundamental values extant in that space, and by which the propositions espoused will be judged? In other words, is there such a thing as a "neutral" zone?
Is such thing necessary for political dialog to bear fruit?
By the way, very nicely written.