The Horn of Africa remains a hotbed of unrest, ravaged by wars that have left the unstable region incapable of resolving stagnant issues that continue to plague the region. Fueling the instability, U.S. foreign policy in the Horn has driven the region into more confusion.

The draft law which regards denial of Armenian Genocide Allegations as a crime was passed by the French parliament’s General Assembly in a December 22nd 2011 resolution. This has both led to a diplomatic crisis in Ankara-Paris relations and a strong reaction from Azerbaijan.

In late December 2011, Assoc. Prof. Atilla Sandıklı, the president of BILGESAM, gave a lecture entitled “Political Economy of the Developments in the Middle East” at Bartın University in the Black Sea region, with the joint collaborations of Bartın University Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences and the Economic Thought Club.

With the US withdrawal from Iraq, the infrastructure, social structure and stability of Iraq have undergone an irrevocable transformation. The US administration, which invaded Iraq with so-called slogans of democracy and freedom, has left the country with ethnic and sectarian conflicts, instability, and chaos.

On December 24th 2011, an international conference entitled “Kyrgyzstan in its 20th Year of Independence” was held at the Rectorship of Giresun University with the joint contributions of Ankara Embassy in  Kyrgyzstan, the Eurasia Economic Relations Association, and Giresun University. Assoc. Prof. Atilla Sandıklı, president of the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies 

When the recent history is analyzed, it could be said that Turkey’s political and economic relations with the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have progressed at a limited level. Given Turkey’s long and common historical background with MENA countries, it could be stated that this restricted level of relations stand largely awkward.

This past month, Prof. Dr. Hasret Çomak, one of the executive board members of the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies (BILGESAM) and the Vice Rector of the Kocaeli University, paid a visit to Astana, Kazakhstan upon an official invitation extended by Prof. Dr. Erlan B. Sydykov, the Vice Rector of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University 

Since its inception, the European Union has experienced both political and economic crises and overcome these difficulties through charters and changes within the structures and authorities of its institutions. As it is known, an important political crisis among the EU members arose during the acceptance phase of the EU Constitution.

Since December 2010, revolts have been rising throughout North Africa and the Middle East. The media and politicians have designated the events as the “Arab Spring,”  not only due to its timing, but also in reference to the similar European revolutions of the ‘People’s Spring’ and “Prague’s Spring” of 1848. This “Arab Spring” is related to previous events.

The Second High Technology Workshop was held on December 9, 2011 at Bahçeşehir University. The workshop was organized with joint contributions of the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies (BILGESAM), Kocaeli University, Istanbul Kültür University, Bahçeşehir University and Gebze Institute of Technology.

Turkish and Polish leaders at almost each state visit in Poland and Turkey respectively emphasize long-standing friendship in relations of the two countries. Remarkable symbols of this friendship are the two always mentioned facts: Turkey’s refusal to recognize partitions of Poland at the end of the 18th century and current Polish support for Turkey’s accession to the European Union.

While the Turkey-America relationship can be characterized by a flurry of high points and a series of doldrums since genuine bilateral engagement started in the late 1920s, the ties between the two countries has been based on a foundation of strategy and security.

The political geography of the Middle East has started to be reshaped with the developments starting in December of 2010 and gaining speed in 2011. The popular movements that first erupted in Tunisia could be described as “the awakening of the Arab people.” The authoritarian administrations of the Arab world have applied violence so as to suppress the unrest in the Middle East, but they have failed.

After the win in Germany’s general elections by Angela Merkel and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in 2005, a particular question did appear: would this change in Germany’s government substantially alter German-Israeli relations? As the last six years have shown, Angela Merkel is one of the most pro-Israeli German chancellors that Germany has ever produced.

Turkish-Brazilian relations represent “a new geopolitics of the world.” (1) This wording was chosen by Dilma Rousseff, the president of Brazil, during her visit to Turkey that took place in early October. The president refers to the growing economic and political relations between Turkey and Brazil that reveals the search for a new key role in the world by two traditional outsiders in the international decision-making process.

Since the beginning of 2011, the revolts throughout the Middle East have captured the attention (and even imagination) of the world’s audience. As rusted dictatorships are being steadily uprooted and likely to be replaced by budding makeshift democracies, all as a result of civil initiative, a greater issue has been largely glossed over: 

Between November 21-24th 2011, with the purpose of enhancing long-lasting  international activities, the Wise Men Center for Strategic Studies (BILGESAM) paid visits to think-tank institutions in both Belgium and France. Within the scope of these visits, Assoc. Prof. Atilla Sandıklı, the President of BILGESAM, and Orhan Dede, a research coordinator at BILGESAM, had an exchange of ideas with the research centers based in Belgium and France.