Turkey’s non-nuclear weapon status: A theoretical assessment

Turkey’s security policy upholds nuclear (and WMD) nonproliferation and commitment to the regimes concerned. In the post-Cold War and post-9/11 world, military threats to Turkey’s security emanate mainly from the Middle East, where security is still defined in a Realist world. Turkey has several issues with its neighbours and maintains strategic balance with superiority or rough equality in its military power, its alliances, and to a lesser extent, economic ties. This paper analyses Turkey’s policy as a non-nuclear weapon state amid uneasy neighbours, which have had WMD and/or nuclear programs, through the lenses of several International Relations theories that explain proliferation dynamics: Realism, Liberalism, Constructivism, and other theories explaining state behaviour by opening the ‘black box’. The analysis reveals the pillars that make up the policy including motivations and constraints. The post-9/11 US security and foreign policy and Iran’s nuclear program are independent variables that introduce intervening variables (like the effects on the regime and norms) which have impacts on these motivations and reconstraints. The paper distinguishes between (i) the presence of motivations to pursue a nuclear weapons capability, (ii) working to keep the ‘nuclear option’ open and (iii) the actual decision to go nuclear. The main argument is that the independent variables have challenged the maintenance of the policy as a security asset, and Turkey may consider a ‘nuclear option’ when this asset converges into a security deficiency. The paper concludes with recommendations to keep Turkey on the current track

Structural Causes of the “Gender Gap” in Nuclear Security: An Overview

This article elaborates on the discussion from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) International Conference on Nuclear Security (ICONS) 2020 conference and discusses the reasons for the gender gap between professionals working in nuclear security. It puts forward the structural causes for women\u27s choice of field and the formation of gender biases from the perspective of Political Science. It emphasizes the importance of having role-models for women working in the field and provides recommendations to increase the number of women working in nuclear security

INSEN as Part and Propellant of the Nuclear Security Regime: An Insider’s View

This short piece presents an insider’s view of the International Nuclear Security Education Network (INSEN), and shows that the Network is not only a part of the evolving nuclear security regime, but also it drives the regime forward through academic research, teaching and cooperation which are facilitated by the meetings at the IAEA and social activities in extracurricular time in Vienna

Understanding the nuclear energy debate in Turkey : internal and external contexts

Ankara : The Department of International Relations, Bilkent University, 2010.Thesis (Ph. D.) -- Bilkent University, 2010.Includes bibliographical references leaves 267-307.Nuclear energy generation in Turkey has sparked debates on its relevance and necessity for energy security policy. As a developing country, Turkey chose nuclear energy to address both to sustainability and development needs. The decision is challenged on the basis of “threats” to life, environment and security. The arguments and prescriptions of the contending sides render two meanings for nuclear energy: “asset” and “threat.” This dissertation looks into the construction of these two meanings that prescribe nuclear energy either as the appropriate policy choice or an imminent threat to human life and environment. The respective arguments are shaped by the international norms on nuclear nonproliferation, environmentalism and antinuclearism. This study analyzes the contending discourses in order to find how the opposing meanings of nuclear energy are produced and sustained. It finds that the former meaning and policy prescription is formed with reference to the Realist conception of state power and security. It is Critical Theory, Marxism and Green Political Theory which account for the second meaning of nuclear energy. The “conflict” is not only at the practical but also at the theoretical level. The dissertation argues that this conflict can be addressed through a critical engagement of the parties concerned. It seeks to find common grounds on which the parties can talk. The analysis of the discourses reveals these common grounds where the two sides can find points of reconciliation and formulate a sound energy security policyUdum, ŞebnemPh.D

Sıkıntıya Dayanma Ve Esrar Kullanımı Arasındaki İlişkinin İncelenmesi

Bu araştırmanın amacı, sıkıntıya dayanma ve esrar kullanım özellikleri (kullanıma başlama yaşı, kullanım sıklığı, esrarın yaşam üstüne olumsuz etkileri-sağlık, ilişkiler, sosyal yaşam ve iş yaşamı) arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesidir. Araştırma Kilis Denetimli Serbestlik Müdürlüğü’nde yürütülmüştür. Çalışmanın örneklemini, bu kurumda madde kullanımı sebebiyle eğitim ve iyileştirme çalışmalarına alınmış yükümlüler oluşturmuştur. Araştırmaya 66 erkek katılmıştır. Araştırma verilerinin toplanmasında, katılımcıların bilgileri için demografik bilgi formu, esrar kullanım özelliklerinin ölçümü için Bağımlılık Profil İndeksi – Kısa Formu (BAPİ-Kısa), sıkıntıya dayanıklılık ölçümü için Sıkıntıya Dayanma Ölçeği (SDÖ), depresyon ve anksiyete ölçümü için Beck Depresyon Envanteri (BDE) ve Beck Anksiyete Envanteri (BAE) kullanılmıştır. Araştırma sonuçlarına göre; SDÖ ile ölçülen sıkıntıya dayanıklılık düştükçe, BAPİ-Kısa toplam puanı ile ölçülen esrar kullanımı (r = -.31, p<.05), BAPİ-Kısa alt ölçekleri ile ölçülen esrarın yaşam üstüne olumsuz etkileri (r = -.31, p<.05) ve esrar bağımlılığı (r = -.36, p<.01), BDE ile ölçülen depresyon (r = -.44, p<.01) ve BAE ile ölçülen anksiyete (r = -.29, p<.05) artmaktadır. Depresyon şiddeti arttıkça, esrar kullanımı (r = .49, p<.01), BAPİ-Kısa alt ölçeği ile ölçülen esrar kullanım sıklığı (r = .44, p<.01) ve esrarın yaşam üstüne olumsuz etkileri (r = .55, p<.01) artmaktadır. Benzer şekilde, anksiyete arttıkça esrar kullanımı (r = .42, p<.01), esrar kullanım sıklığı (r = .33, p<.01) ve esrarın yaşam üstüne olumsuz etkileri (r = .40, p<.01) artmaktadır. Katılımcıların madde kullanımına başlama yaşları düştükçe, esrar kullanımı (r = -.40, p<.01), esrar kullanım sıklığı (r = -.35, p<.01) ve esrarın yaşam üstüne olumsuz etkileri (r = -.40, p<.01) artmaktadır. Elde edilen bu sonuçlarla, sıkıntıya dayanma ve esrar kullanımı arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu hipotezi desteklenmiştir

The impacts of Turkey's response to proliferation threats in the Middle East on its integration with Europe

Cataloged from PDF version of article.After the declaration of its candidacy in 1999, Turkey’s relations with the European Union (EU) assumed a new course, which requires undertaking certain reforms to fulfill the EU accession criteria in order to start accession talks. Now that Turkey’s primary task is meeting these criteria, there is a high expectation that Turkey should do its best to start these talks as early as possible. However, the issues that started to occupy Turkey’s external security agenda in the post-Cold War period are likely to constitute important stumbling blocks in Turkey’s integration with the EU. Turkey is under a real threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery systems from its neighbors in the Middle East. Turkey’s initial response to the proliferation was to consider involvement in missile defense systems, and to produce its own capability that addressed the threat directly. Experts foresee that these two processes pull Turkish policymaking in different directions and result in a paradox. This thesis is an attempt to find a way to get out of this paradox by addressing needs and interests and to lead Turkey to converge towards satisfying the EU while at the same time upholding its own security interests. To that end, the thesis basically proposes a national nonproliferation strategy that involves all the interested actors of Turkish security and foreign policy making and relevant institutions. It argues that viable strategic political decisions can be a way out of the paradox between Turkey’s security policy and its relations with Europe.Udum, ŞebnemM.S

Women Leading the Way

As a feature of this issue, we asked some of the most notable women in the nuclear security profession to share their stories. Knowing that other women overcame circumstances that women still face instills hope, shows leadership, and provides mentorship to us all

Highly conjugated visible and near-infrared light photoinitiating systems for radical and cationic polymerizations

In this communication, we report highly conjugated thiophenes having [1,2,5]-thiadiazolo and [1,2,5]-selenadiazolo [3,4-f]-benzo [1,2,3] triazole in conjunction with diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate salt(DPI) as new visible and near-infrared light (NIR) photoinitiator systems for free radical (FRP) and cationicpolymerizations (CP). The postulated mechanism is based on the electron transfer reactions between the excitedconjugated molecule and DPI ions. The radicals and Bronsted acid formed this way initiate FRP and CP ofappropriate monomers such as methylacrylate (MA), methyl methacrylate (MMA), triethylene glycol dimethacrylate(TEGDMA) and cyclohexene oxide (CHO), isobutyl vinylether (IBVE) respectively. The possibility of insitu hybrid polymerization is also demonstrated using bifunctional monomer glycidyl methacrylate (GMA)