HEADLINES | TASAM Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies

Although during last three decades the process of globalization seemed to make the link between power and territory less relevant than during the Cold War, for certain states, geography remains the crucial factor conditioning the size and shape of their decision-making process towards external partners.

Historically, quality and numerical superiority have been vital, enabling modern armies to gain superiority on the battlefield. Rapid military-technological change in Artificial Intelligence-AI and robotic weapon systems due to the political and economic developments that led to the Second World War and the Cold War; has brought up the use of modern conventional and nuclear weapons.

Countries with strong historical consciousness and long political traditions often have to adapt their strategy to be able to face contemporary challenges. But even in the postmodern, information-oriented world, experience (even a bitter one) may be an advantage and not a burden.

Transforming the relations between Turkey and Middle East (or in a narrower context between Turkey and the Gulf States - where strategic dialogue is still developing despite its strong historical and cultural background) from a fragile axis to a cooperation axis that will adapt to new balances, new roles and new alliances is an obligation rather than an option. Seen with vision and foresight, it has been tested in various crises, where history and the spirit of the time have long reminded this.

The geopolitical panorama created by the similarities of African countries as well as their differences provides crucial data both for their integration and for their potential for conflict. Both intra-continental and international defence and security strategies need to be determined in a way that does not exploit these qualities of Africa and that primarily treats them as gains in favor of the continent.

Istanbul Economics Congress, which was held for the first time in Turkey on 09-10 December 2021 by TASAM and TASAM BGC with the main theme of “Turkey and Social Ethics Code in the Future Economy”. Confirmation and participation, which affects the latest variants in the Kovid-19 outbreak, was held online in the interactive environment.

Despite a strong historical and cultural background, the relations between Türkiye and the Middle East, or more narrowly, Türkiye and the Gulf Countries, where strategic dialogue is still evolving, need to transform from a fragile axis into a cooperation axis that adapts to new balances, roles, and alliances. When viewed with vision and sagacity, this has been tested in various crises that the spirit of history and time has reminded us of for a long time.

Concerns should be taken into account about how comprehensive international military strategies contribute to regional security crises on the continent of Africa. There are views suggesting that Africa's inability to properly strengthen its military capacity due to existing problems in both the industry in general and the defense industry in particular creates a ground for overly interventionist and neo-colonial tendencies.

Humanity lives on rising or falling land masses (lithosphere) in the middle of the water sphere that makes up 72% of the Earth's surface, shaped by various terrestrial dynamics. The land masses forming the natural habitat of humanity constitute only a small part of the Earth's surface. The fundamental commonality of all these land masses is that they each have the nature of an "island." The size of islands varies. Some islands are continental, hosting multiple states and nations.

First of all, I will mention two things. First; it is related to the statement "Turks are not sailors", I would like to point out that this is an insulting expression to Turks and is due to ignorance of history. The other is about how I draw the map of the Blue Homeland.

First of all, I sincerely welcome all our participants. I wish that the 6th Istanbul Security Conference and its sub-events, which we had to do online in 5 separate halls due to the pandemic this year, will produce strategic and historical results for our countries and the world.