Global Swing States and International Order: A Turkish View

A GMF project proposes to conceptualize Turkey as one of global swing states, i.e., the countries that possess a large and growing economy, a strategic location in its region and a commitment to democratic institutions, also including Brazil, India, and Indonesia. The swing state argument is logical from the perspective of extending U.S. tenure at global leadership, but it could be expanded at least on four important dimensions pertaining to the issue of international order that have direct bearing on the way we understand the role of the swing states: power, domestic order, regional order, and justice. A closer examination of Turkey forces us to rethink the report’s underlying assumptions that the swing states need to be engaged lest they turn anti-systemic and that they could assume extended global roles.