BY SAMI USLU
ZAMAN- People who believe that a nation’s foreign affairs are determined by its geopolitical position are called geopolitical theorists.
Geopolitical theorists argue that there’s a cause-effect relationship between a nation’s location on the globe and its foreign policy. Sure enough, until the end of the 18th century a nation had to control large seas and waterways of strategic importance in order to become strong. For example, the British Empire owed its success to its invincible navy. Naval battles between the Ottomans and the Spanish also show that both were aware of this importance. For decades, the Panama, Gibraltar and Suez canals have led nations to form alliances as well as wage wars.
The significance of bodies of water and passages through them has never diminished. On the contrary, the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus have become even more crucial for world sea commerce. Some strategists even claim that if a war were to break out in our region, the Dicle and Firat (Tigris and Euphrates) Rivers would be the reason. Seas and rivers have always held crucial importance, and they will in the future.
By the end of the 19th century, however, a new factor for becoming a world power had been added to the list: Oil. While there has been relative peace in the seas and oceans, oil causes more and more serious disputes with each passing day. Every day we witness the clash of interests of world powers such as the US, the European Union, Russia and Britain. China and Japan are also indirectly involved in this struggle. The US has long been carrying out a global operation aimed at controlling the world’s oil reserves.
The struggle for oil and seas bear out the geopolitical theorists’ claims. And yet there’s another theory: Countries that have great geopolitical significance must also have a strong economy, or else they soon lose their ability to defend themselves. It’s the undeniable that Turkey has a unique geopolitical position. But according to geopolitical theory, we must also have a strong economy in order to protect ourselves from external pressures. Our continued existence depends upon our economic success. Those who look over the last three years’ economic progress must come to realize this.