Conference Program

This paper investigates Turkey's strategic use of arms exports to transcend its middle power status, with a specific focus on expanding its influence in Central Asia and Africa. Over the past decade, Turkey's arms exports to these regions have grown substantially, bolstering its economy, increasing its sway in several strategic areas, and altering conflict dynamics in its favor. This expansion in the defense sector is not only enhancing Turkey's strategic capabilities but also redefining its role in the international power hierarchy, especially in territories previously beyond its influence.

Analyzing Turkey's arms export strategies, the study highlights their role as a key element of its foreign policy and a mechanism for establishing new geopolitical connections. The notable surge in arms dealings with Central Asia and Africa aligns with Turkey's wider goals of securing political and economic influence, challenging its established middle power status.

Drawing on data from international defense trade reports, government documents, and regional security assessments, this research provides an in-depth analysis of the scale and impact of Turkey's arms exports. These initiatives are instrumental in Turkey's entry into new strategic arenas, reinforcing its role as a significant player in these regions.

The study underscores how Turkey is strategically capitalizing on its burgeoning defense industry to widen its global influence. This approach not only contributes to the discourse on the evolving dynamics of international power but also signals a shift in global power structures, marking the emergence of Turkey as a key actor on the world stage.

This study harnesses the Asian Barometer Survey to scrutinize the interrelation between East Asian public opinion on development role models and the propensity towards economic protectionism. The analysis transcends the traditional elite-centric discourse against the backdrop of the Washington and Beijing consensus debates, placing public sentiment at the forefront of the globalization versus protectionism dialogue. We examine how development strategies exemplified by the US and China resonate with the East Asian public and explores the extent to which these perceptions influence protectionist tendencies. Contrary to prevailing assumptions that contemporary trade dynamics with China and the US shape public preferences, our research indicates that historical relationships with these powers exert a more profound effect on molding public opinion towards protectionist policies. The study melds statistical investigation with a deep historical context, revealing a layered interaction between historical precedents and present-day economic policy stances. The findings offer nuanced insights into public ideological trends on economic management, challenging and expanding the discourse on international economic policies and public discourse. The contribution is pivotal for policymakers and researchers who navigate the complex waters of trade policies and public economic sentiment in East Asia.

In the last two decades Qatar has faced several major challenges in terms of its politics and security - both internally and externally - and launched a few bold ventures that contibuted to its international presence. The 2017-2021 crisis (blockade) made Qatar reshuffle its international relations, retool its economy and rethink its position at both regional and global levels. But first of all, the state had to secure its sovereignty and challenge the existing regional balance of power. In the recent years Qatar has also consolidated its potential as a mediator in military conflicts and reinforced its soft power.

The aim of the paper is to outline key developments of Qatar's international policy in the light of the shifting regional order in the Gulf. Relations (of cooperation and rivalry) within the Gulf Cooperation Council, relations with Iran and Turkey, growing international presence of Saudi Arabia, changing roles of the USA, Russia and China in the region, impact of military conflicts on the region (in terms of states, societies and international relations) - these issues open the list of multiple questions Qatar needs to confront and address.

The aforementioned questions will be located within historical context of the Gulf and its socio-cultural landscape. In order to make it possible, an interdisciplinary approach will be adopted.

The loss of hierarchy in multilayered governance systems has long been acknowledged by multilevel governance (MLG) literature, yet prospects of heterarchy have always been kept within the limits of a sovereign. An element of contrast is, however, offered by the Paris Agreement when inaugurating a more polycentric climate regime. Despite shared premises between polycentrism and MLG structures, a climate regime that promotes ‘self-coordination’ by all sorts of actors renders new possibilities for subnational governments to move beyond MLG's ‘straight jacket’. In the case of regional climate leaders from decentralized and federal contexts, there is an opportunity for regional governments to anticipate, surpass, or bypass state action, in climate mitigation and adaptation efforts. Drawing on a polycentric approach and an innovative descriptive typology of regional climate leadership, this paper i) offers a fresh conceptual debate over the contrasts between multilevel governance and polycentrism in the context of the climate regime and ii) shows how regional climate leadership can be conceptualized. In summation, located at the intersection of global governance and climate leadership, this paper makes a theoretical contribution to these literatures by acknowledging a phenomenon that is often taken for granted, but which remains largely undertheorized.