Crisis Studies of the Islamic World

Crisis Studies of the Islamic World

Comparative Study of Turkey and Saudi Arabia Foreign Policy in Syria and Libya (2011-2024)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Abouzar Fattahizadeh 1
Ali Bagheri Dolatabadi 2
Ali Kazemi 3
1 Assistant Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Yasouj University, Iran
2 Full Professor of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Yasouj University, Iran
3 M.A. of Political Science, Faculty of Humanities, Yasouj University, Iran
10.27834/CSIW.2501.1495.2.37.6
Abstract
Saudi Arabia and Turkey, as two US ally regional powers, play significant roles in the development of the Middle East and North Africa. However, following the onset of public protests and the emergence of internal crises in the Arab world since 2011, these two states adopted divergent policies in Syria and Libya. The main question of this study is what are the similarities and differences between the foreign policies of Turkey and Saudi Arabia regarding the developments in Syria and Libya, and what factors have shaped these similarities and differences. The research hypothesis suggests that Despite the similar positions of Turkey and Saudi Arabia in the regional power structure and their inclusion in a single power bloc, differences in their geostrategic and geoeconomic orientations, along with variations in the type and level of their connections to the crisis environments in Syria and Libya, led them to cooperate in the Syrian crisis while confronting each other in the Libyan crisis. A comparative approach has been used to test this hypothesis, and data were collected through a document-based methodology. To test this hypothesis within a comparative approach a researcher-designed conceptual framework was developed by combining the concepts of power-maximizing states, buck-passing principle, proxy warfare, Geostrategy and Geo-economics.
Keywords
"Turkey"
"Saudi Arabia"
"Syria"
"Libya"
"Comparative Foreign Policy"
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Crisis Studies of the Islamic World
Volume 12, Issue 2 - Serial Number 37
Summer Quarterly
Summer 2025

  • Receive Date 09 January 2025
  • Revise Date 04 March 2025
  • Accept Date 13 March 2025