Turkey: America's Forgotten Ally

Rustow offers an upbeat view of Turkey and its relations with the United States in this short and well-executed survey. He makes three main points. First, during Turkey's nearly forty years of elections, six out of seven voters have supported the mainstream parties just to the right and left of center. Rustow calls this firm commitment to democratic values "the most impressive single feature of Turkey's recent political life." Second, political troubles in the 1950s and 1970s resulted not from a divided electorate. but from poorly thought out political structures, which gave first too much and then too little power to the prime minister; the author believes the 1982 constitution and election law has remedied this problem. Third, Turkey's firm alliance with the West keeps the Soviet Union from dominating Damascus and Cairo as it does Warsaw and Prague. Rustow makes a convincing case that the Turkish bulwark provides the whole Middle East (including Israel) with room to maneuver; without it, the region would effectively come under the Soviet thumb. Writing with evident affection for Turkey and appreciation for the benefits it brings the United States in NATO and the Middle East, Rustow worries that American neglect of Turkey will lead to dire consequences.