The Dynamics of Emerging Middle Power Influence in Regional and Global Governance : The Paradoxical Case of Turkey

This article strives to understand the properties, potentials and limits of middle power activism in a changing global order. Extensive debate on the rise of emerging powers notwithstanding, the potential contributions of emerging middle powers in regional and global governance and the imminent challenges they face in their struggle for an upgraded status in the hierarchy of world politics is an understudied issue. This study aims to fill this gap by offering a broad conceptual framework for middle power activism and testing it with reference to the Turkish case. In this context, we aim to address the following questions: what kind of roles can emerging middle powers play in a post-hegemonic international system? What are the dynamics, properties, and limitations of emerging middle power activism in regional and global governance? Our central thesis is that emerging middle powers can make important contributions to regional and global governance. Their ultimate impact, however, is not inevitable but depends on a complementary set of conditions that is outlined in this study