Page 162 - 《国际安全研究》2022年第2期

Journal of International Security Studies
Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism respectively. From the perspective of
global identity, Turkey took part in NATO’s military operations in Afghanistan, Iran
joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization as an observer member in 2005, and
Saudi Arabia has been an active member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,
thus forming their respective linkages with world powers. Complex identity politics
has enabled the three countries to build an intertwined subsystem that could decrease
the significance of the security initiatives involving Afghanistan made by world
powers, and change the security pattern of Afghanistan with a shift from “multi-
polarity” to “multi-center”.
[Keywords] Afghanistan, security affairs, complex identity politics, Islamic powers,
security governance
[Authors] SUN Degang, Director of Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Fellow
Researcher of Institute of International Studies, Fudan University; ZHANG Jieying,
Ph.D. Candidate, School of International Relations & Public Affairs, Fudan
University (Shanghai, 200433).

132 Ambiguous Allies: The US-Turkey Relations from an Alliance
Perspective
SHOU Huisheng and WANG Qiannan

[Abstract] The alliance system is an important diplomatic instrument for the United States
to maintain its global influence in the post-war era. Among all the US allies, Turkey is
an extremely special one in that behind the formal alliance lies a fragile and volatile
relationship that is not only complex but also full of contradictions and conflicts, with the
two countries seemingly ready to break up at any moment yet hard to separate from each
other. Such a relationship is completely different from the relations of the United States
with its traditional allies and strategic partners in the Middle East. Therefore, it is of great
theoretical and practical significance to study their bilateral relations. The concept of
“ambiguous allies” provides us with an integrated analytical framework that not only
highlights the constraints of such structural factors as geo-strategy, globalization,
realignment of regional powers on the US- Turkey relations, but also underlines the role
of strategies and policy choices made by the two governments and their leaders in the
transformation of the US-Turkey alliance. Under the influence of both structural and
process factors, the US-Turkey alliance is shifting from a traditional alliance to an
ambiguous one, which will not only exert a comprehensive and far-reaching impact on
the two countries’ regional strategies and regional security order, but also bring new
uncertainties to the alliance system of the United States.
[Keywords] ambiguous allies, US-Turkey relations, alliance system, Middle East
security
[Authors] SHOU Huisheng, Director of Center for Turkey Studies, Beijing Language
and Culture University; WANG Qiannan, Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Middle East
Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University (Beijing, 100083).

（本期英文编辑：张国帅 高静）

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