Chapter XIV, The Former Ottoman Empire, Part III, America's Destiny, Chapter XV, Braudel, Mexico, and Grand Strategy Summary and Analysis

Turkey, the core of the former Ottoman Empire, is well situated vis-à-vis the Arab world to influence Arab politics in part because it controls the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, though it cannot simply deny water to the Arab nations to its south. Turkey also has a closer relationship to Europe, in large part due to a history of entanglement with European powers and the attempts by post-WWI ruler and founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who forcibly secularized much of the country, though these moves towards a Western form of life were the result of centuries of relationships. Turkey, accordingly, was shocked by the fact...