This study examines interest-formation and state-action in the Eastern Mediterranean countries of Egypt, Israel, Turkey and the Republic of Cyprus. In seeking answers to the questions on how interests of the respective countries can be explained, particularly within the area of natural gas, and possible consequences of different regional approaches, the study draws upon ideas in classical, structural, neoclassical realism and constructivism. The theoretical diversity enables the study to focus on international, state and domestic levels by way of qualitative content analysis as the selected methodology. The findings suggest that Egypt, Israel and Cyprus possess corresponding views in their regional outlook; including natural gas as a means for stability and economic growth, but also that these views contrast significantly with Turkey’s regional perspective. Additional findings show that interest-formation in all four states, despite coherence among Egypt, Israel and Cyprus, differentiates to a large degree. The chief reason is that interest-formation appears to occur within international, state and domestic levels. Regarding the second question, the study finds that the different and often conflicting regional approaches on natural gas of Cyprus and Turkey, which are based upon fundamentally different premises, pose risk for heightened tensions between both Cyprus, Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:liu-148686 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Johansson, Viktor Alberto |
| Publisher | Linköpings universitet, Statsvetenskap |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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