Atlas Think Club

A NATO Win for Erdogan

NATO’s Ankara Summit is over and, as expected, the winner is Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish host has a lot to be happy about. First, the summit put on display his special relationship to Donald Trump. Trump made it clear that he showed up at the Bestepe Palace largely thanks to his ties to Erdogan. In the run-up to the summit but also in Ankara, the US president spared no word of praise for his Turkish counterpart....

A NATO Win for Erdogan - Atlas Think Center NATO’s Ankara Summit is over and, as expected, the winner is Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish host has a lot to be happy about. First, the summit put on display his special relationship to Donald Trump. Trump made it clear that he showed up at the Bestepe Palace largely thanks to his ties to Erdo...

NATO’s Out-of-Area Strategy

As is known, NATO is a military alliance established after the Second World War to protect the military security of the West against communism and Soviet expansionism. Beyond being merely a military alliance, NATO is a war machine that has also assumed the mission of maintaining the West’s political, diplomatic, strategic, and even cultural superiority. In the 1990s, when the Soviet system collapsed and the Warsaw Pact dissolved, NATO, in a sense, should have become functionless because its adversary had disappeared, but that did not happen....

NATO’s Out-of-Area Strategy - Atlas Think Center As is known, NATO is a military alliance established after the Second World War to protect the military security of the West against communism and Soviet expansionism. Beyond being merely a military alliance, NATO is a war machine that has also assumed the mission of maintaining the West’s politic...

The Future for Turkey and the EU after the July NATO Ankara Summit

On July 7-8, 2026, Turkey will host what has become the annual NATO leaders’ summit. The event will take place this year at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara. The leaders from all 32 NATO members including U.S. president Donald J. Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet to discuss transatlantic security, defense planning, and international support, among several others weighty items....

The Future for Turkey and the EU after the July NATO Ankara Summit - Atlas Think Center On July 7-8, 2026, Turkey will host what has become the annual NATO leaders’ summit. The event will take place this year at the Bestepe Presidential Compound in Ankara. The leaders from all 32 NATO members including U.S. president Donald J. Trump and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will mee...

Great Ambition, Great Disappointment

Turkey's O***m: Football Great Ambition, Great Disappointment Football is an integral part of daily life in many societies around the world. In Turkey, however, this passion takes on an altogether different dimension — particularly at the international level. As the heir to a collapsed empire, Turks experience football as a visible expression of a deep historical inferiority complex vis-à-vis the West....

Great Ambition, Great Disappointment - Atlas Think Center Turkey’s O***m: Football Great Ambition, Great Disappointment Football is an integral part of daily life in many societies around the world. In Turkey, however, this passion takes on an altogether different dimension — particularly at the international level. As the heir to a collapsed empire, T...

The Waning Crescent? The Transformation, Not the End, of Political Islam

Faisal Devji’s Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam offers a useful starting point for understanding the current crisis of political Islam. Devji’s central argument is that political Islam should be treated not simply as a timeless expression of religion in politics, but as one of the great ideological projects of the modern age. Like Communism, Baathism, Pan-Arabism, or anti-colonial nationalism, political Islam emerged from a particular historical moment....

The Waning Crescent? The Transformation, Not the End, of Political Islam - Atlas Think Center Faisal Devji’s Waning Crescent: The Rise and Fall of Global Islam offers a useful starting point for understanding the current crisis of political Islam. Devji’s central argument is that political Islam should be treated not simply as a timeless expression of religion in politics, but as one of ...

What Does Central Europe’s Post-Orban Russia Policy Look Like?

A version of this blog appeared on Carnegie Endowment On May 9, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss energy cooperation and the war in Ukraine. The meeting highlights a broader trend in Central and Eastern Europe: Even after Viktor Orban’s fall from power in Hungary, several regional leaders continue to engage with Russia in search of economic and political advantages....

What Does Central Europe’s Post-Orban Russia Policy Look Like? - Atlas Think Center A version of this blog appeared on Carnegie Endowment On May 9, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss energy cooperation and the war in Ukraine. The meeting highlights a broader trend in Central and Eastern Europe: Even after Viktor Orban’s fal...

The First Phase of Erdogan’s Plan to Neutralize the Main Opposition Is Complete

Turkey’s path to the dictatorship The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed. The crisis escalated when figures close to Kılıçdaroğlu, along with individuals linked to organized crime, made their way to CHP headquarters. It intensified further after Kılıçdaroğlu submitted a petition to the Ankara Police Department demanding that the building be handed over to him....

The First Phase of Erdogan’s Plan to Neutralize the Main Opposition Is Complete - Atlas Think Center Turkey’s path to the dictatorship The first phase of Erdoğan’s plan to neutralize the main opposition party — carried out in cooperation with former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu — has been completed. The crisis escalated when figures close to Kılıçdaroğlu, along with individuals li...

The ‘Absolute Nullity’ Coup Against CHP

By moving to effectively install a court-appointed administration over CHP, Erdoğan's regime has taken a step that pushes Turkey closer to a Russian-style one-man rule, away from the competitive authoritarian system it had been. As the economy deteriorates and CHP gains ground, Erdoğan aims with this move to split CHP, inflame Alevi-Sunni tensions within the party, and — ahead of an increasingly likely early election — cement his power against a divided and weakened opposition....

The 'Absolute Nullity' Coup Against CHP - Atlas Think Center By moving to effectively install a court-appointed administration over CHP, Erdoğan’s regime has taken a step that pushes Turkey closer to a Russian-style one-man rule, away from the competitive authoritarian system it had been. As the economy deteriorates and CHP gains ground, Erdoğan aims with...

Can Europe defend itself with Turkish help?

For all the efforts of European leaders to paper over frictions with Donald Trump, there has been no shortage of transatlantic drama over the past couple of weeks. At the start of May, the Pentagon announced that the US would be pulling out 5,000 troops from Germany. The news came after Trump lashed out at Germany’s Prime Minister Friedrich Merz for “doing a terrible job” on issues such as immigration and energy. ...

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The Implications of Withdrawing US Troops from Abroad

As of early 2026, the U.S. had almost 170,000 active-duty troops stationed abroad in approximately 750 military bases located in some 178 different countries. Germany has long been one of the countries with the largest number of U.S. troops, more than 36,000 at last count. Currently, Japan with more than 54,000 houses the most, followed by South Korea with 23,000, Italy with 12,000, and the United Kingdom (U.K.) with 10,000....

The Implications of Withdrawing US Troops from Abroad - Atlas Think Center As of early 2026, the U.S. had almost 170,000 active-duty troops stationed abroad in approximately 750 military bases located in some 178 different countries. Germany has long been one of the countries with the largest number of U.S. troops, more than 36,000 at last count. Currently, Japan with more...