Turkey, the NATO Summit, and After

The Lisbon Summit 2010 outcomes were good news for Turkey. The Alliance was finally turning to strategic challenges more relevant to Turkey’s neighborhood. Even on the hotly-debated question of missile defense, the agreed approach enhanced Turkish security and improved the outlook for cooperation with Russia. Above all, the Lisbon experience suggested that some aspects of Turkish foreign policy remained cautious and traditional, and the NATO connection still mattered when it came to working with Ankara. Putting all of this into practice would not be easy. But getting it right could help reverse the sharp slide in Turkish public attitudes toward NATO — if political leaders were willing to take up the challenge.