Wishful Thinking: Strategic Imperatives and their Limits in Turkey's EU Aspirations, Fall 2006

In an effort to counter concerns that Turkey is too big, too poor, and too Muslim to join the European Union, Turkish officials routinely stress the strategic benefits Turkish membership would provide the EU. While this argument may resonate in Washington and certain corners of Brussels, it is having little impact on the wider European public. By analyzing Turkey’s strategic rationale, the debate within the EU about its geographic and cultural limits, and the growing importance of European public opinion, this paper calls for a new public diplomacy that complements Turkey’s strategic arguments by stressing the concrete economic and political benefits of Turkish accession...Please click here to read the text in full.