ÇAĞLAR KURÇ
RESEARCH
ARTICLES
SAVUNMA ÇALIŞMALARI (DEFENCE STUDIES)
Türk Savaş Çalışmaları Dergisi, 1.2 (2020)
Defence Studies is the field that acts as a bridge between the military-technical field and the political economy and examines the defence policies of states. Defence Studies takes a holistic approach to defence, revealing complex choices that are either seen or presented as purely technical decisions. Despite its unique focus, it is usually used synonymously with Strategic and War Studies. Yet, this is not the only problem facing the field. With a few exceptions, Defence Studies have not been able to penetrate civil institutions. Defence Studies has an autonomous institutional place only in the military institutions, thus, especially in Turkey, the field is dominated by active and retired soldiers. The fact that the area is dominated by soldiers is due to the attitudes of both civilians and soldiers. Another problem is that engineers mostly reduce Defence Studies to the military-technical level. As the field is reduced to the technical level, it moves away from its raison d'être; acting as the bridge between the political economy and the military-technical field. This study will examine the problems experienced by Defence Studies while delineating the framework of the field and laying out the fundamental questions in the field, thus aiming to contribute to the resolution of the problems.
DEFENSE INDUSTRIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS—THE SECOND E-WORKSHOP (WITH RICHARD A. BITZINGER)
Comparative Strategy, 37:4, 255-259, DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2018.1497318 (2018)
Despite the careful reasoning and excellent research of scholars, the effects of the transformation on international politics and the driving forces of defense industrialization remain obscure. In order to address this problem and reach an in-depth understanding of defense industrialization and its impact on international politics, we organized an e-workshop series at Columbia University with Stephanie G. Neuman. Our goal is to unearth the interplay between domestic and international factors to understand the variance in defense industrialization and its impact on states’ foreign policy and the implications for international politics. Articles in this special issue are the continuation of our efforts to reach a better understanding of transformation in global arms-production practices and their implications for international politics.
THE PUZZLE: MULTI-VECTOR FOREIGN POLICY AND DEFENSE INDUSTRIALIZATION IN CENTRAL ASIA
Comparative Strategy, 37:4, 316-330, DOI: 10.1080/01495933.2018.1497352 (2018)
The multi-vector policy adopted by the Central Asian countries provides a basis for a flexible approach in their relations with competing international actors to acquire payoffs from economic and military affiliations or partnerships. Consequently, we expect that the defense-industrialization and procurement practices in the region would follow a similar path. However, a closer look reveals that Russia is still the dominant actor in the security and defense-industrial relations in the region. This article argues that perceived threats to regime security, the patrimonial system of rule, and weak industrial bases push Central Asian countries toward Russia as well as hindering the development of capable defense industry.
TAKING PRODUCTION RELATIONS SERIOUSLY: THE ROLE OF THE DEFENSE FIRMS IN INTERNATIONAL ARMAMENTS ORGANIZATIONS
(WITH SIBEL OKTAY)
European Security, 27:4, 469-489, DOI: 10.1080/09662839.2018.152069 (2018)
Coordinating defence-industrial relations towards harmonising and facilitating procurement policies, production processes and the joint operability of their member-states’ national defence sectors, International Armaments Organisations (IAOs) play an important role in armaments cooperation. How can we explain their institutional development? Existing literature tackles this question using International Relations theories to mid-range theories of institutions and integration. However, they adopt overly state-centric viewpoints, assume actor interests as given, and disregard the changes in the global economic landscape that constitute the backdrop of armaments cooperation. In response, we shift the focus onto a key group of actors: the defence firms. Using a Neo-Gramscian Historical Materialist approach, we investigate how the globalisation of the defence market has created a transnational defence-industrial class in Europe, and demonstrate how its economic interests have fundamentally shaped the institutional frameworks of European IAOs. We focus on the Organisation for Joint Armaments Cooperation (OCCAR) and the European Defence Agency (EDA) to illustrate our argument. Our conclusions have implications for the study of armaments cooperation, particularly highlighting how the economic nature of this policy domain necessitates a closer look at the global and regional production relations, and the agency of the defence firms.
DEFENCE INDUSTRIES IN THE 21 CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
(WITH STEPHANIE G. NEUMAN)
Defence Studies, 17:3, 219-227, DOI: 10.1080/14702436.2017.135010 (2017)
In order to resolve some of the issues raised by these theoretical debates, we initiated an E-Workshop series at Columbia University in 2016. First, the workshops are designed, through in-depth single case studies and comparative analysis, to shed empirical light on the defence industrial decision-making process in emerging states and the political, economic, and military factors that have shaped it. Our focus is on the inner workings of the process: why certain policies have been adopted, what the production capabilities of selected emerging defence industries are, and how they are changing in response to transformations in the global defence industrial system. We also hope to reach a deeper understanding of how these changes influence the national security interests of the arms producing states, how they impact their military effectiveness and shape their interactions in the international political system. A second objective for the workshops is to digitally bring together arms trade analysts scattered all over the world. Through this series of workshops, we hope to create an ongoing, interactive community of defence industry specialists who will interact, exchange ideas, and regularly communicate with each other.
BETWEEN DEFENCE AUTARKY AND DEPENDENCY: THE DYNAMICS OF TURKISH DEFENCE INDUSTRIALIZATION
Defence Studies, 17:3, 260-281, DOI: 10.1080/14702436.2017.1350107 (2017)
Turkish defence industries have significantly improved their production capabilities since the 1980s. According to the official documents, Turkey reached 54% local production level in 2011. Encouraged by this impressive defence industrial development, the government of Turkey declared that defence industrial autarky, the country’s main goal since the 1980s, would be reached by 2023. This paper evaluates the possibility of Turkey’s defence autarky. Contrary to the existing approaches in the literature that assess technological capabilities and cost-effectiveness, this paper argues that Turkey’s search for defence autarky is hindered by the interplay of institutional deficiencies, dependency on foreign inputs, and the United States’ continuing influence over Turkish politics.
CONCLUSION: THE NEED FOR CONTINUOUS IN-DEPTH AND COMPARATIVE STUDY (WITH STEPHANIE G. NEUMAN)
Defence Studies, 17:3, 317-325, DOI: 10.1080/14702436.2017.1350106 (2017)
The debate over the benefits and drawbacks of defence industrialisation, particularly for emerging states, is far from settled but, as the case studies in this symposium suggest, a growing number of these states are taking steps to advance their defence industrial capabilities. In this volume, we attempt to decipher the reasons why states make that choice and why they choose to adopt a particular defence industrial policy.
TURKEY’S STRATEGIC CHOICE: BUY OR MAKE WEAPONS? (WITH HÜSEYIN BAĞCI)
Defence Studies, 17:1, 38-62, DOI: 10.1080/14702436.2016.1262742 (2017)
Turkey has been investing in its national defence industrial base since the 1980s. As with other developing countries, Turkey’s motivations for investing in national defence industries can be boiled down to the pursuit of defence autarky, economic benefits and international prestige. However, after 40 years of investment, Turkey is unable to reach the primary goals of defence industrialisation. We argue that three factors are important to understanding Turkey’s persistence in these primary goals. First, Turkey believes that there is an overall improvement in its defence industrial capabilities and the goal of autarky is still reachable. Second, increased defence exports support the belief that Turkish defence industries have become sustainable and the trend will continue in the future. The third reason, perhaps most important of all, has to do with the domestic political gains of defence industrialisation: the AKP uses defence industry and indigenous weapon systems for prestige and, therefore, garners broader support.
BOOKS
DEFENCE INDUSTRIES IN THE 21ST CENTURY: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS
October 2, 2020
Defence Industries in the 21st Century explores the transformation in the global defence industrial production through examining the interaction between international and domestic factors.
With the global defence industry and arms market likely continue to expand and mature, the ways in which this progression could influence international politics remain obscure. In practice, as the contents of this book show, the defence industrial bases and arms export policies of emerging states display significant variance. This variance is the result of a unique balance between domestic and international factors that has shaped the defence industrialisation behaviour and policies of the less industrialised states. One of the most important conclusions of the book is that the interplay between domestic and international factors clearly influences the variation in the emerging states’ defence industrialisation policies, as well as their success or failure. While international factors create opportunities, they also limit the options available to emerging economies. Domestic factors also play an important role by shaping the policy choices of the states’ decision makers.
Exploring the balance between international and domestic factors and the ways in which they influence defence industrialisation in emerging states, Defence Industries in the 21st Century will be of great interest to scholars of Defence Industries, Arms Manufacturing, and Defence, Strategic and Security Studies more generally. The chapters were originally published in Defence Studies, Comparative Strategy and All Azimuth.
