Riccardo Gasco

Over the past two decades, the global landscape has transformed significantly, leading to a
restructuring of international relations. Africa has emerged as a vital economic and political
force, attracting the attention of middle powers like Italy and Türkiye. Both countries
consider Africa crucial for advancing their geopolitical, economic, and security interests.
Italy's strategic initiatives, including the Italy-Africa Initiative, and Türkiye extensive
diplomatic and economic efforts reflect their commitment to strengthening ties with Africa.
However, compared to other international players, Rome and Ankara’s strategies seem to
suggest a new mode of engagement based on precise principles. This report examines how
their collaborative approaches may provide a sustainable alternative to traditional powers,
fostering mutual prosperity and redefining Africa's relationship with external actors.

Through historical and analytical exploration of the complex setting of Kurdish socio- and (geo)political dynamics, this chapter provides a nuanced exploration of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), emphasizing its exceptional position as an armed non-state actor (ANSA). Grounded in theoretical frameworks of ANSAs, the analysis traces the PKK’s evolution amid the multifaceted dynamics of East-West relations during and after the Cold War. Through a “3C” model, a slight modification on the framework proposed in the opening chapter of the present volume, the chapter elucidates the PKK’s agency and its dynamic interactions with different actors, which encompass coercion, co-optation, and control. In doing so, it highlights how the PKK stands out as a chameleonic actor that, by means of different strategies, has managed to survive as an ANSA, while also having political and economic resources, along with visibility on the global stage. The claim is that these dynamics prompted a certain degree of institutionalization that reshapes both non-state and state actors’ (geo)political imperatives.

Nel corso degli ultimi dieci anni, la Cina, ha intrapreso una massiccia politica di investimenti economici e logistici nel Mediterraneo. Dalla Grecia, alla Turchia, passando per Israele fino alle coste dell’Italia e oltre. Gli investimenti rientrano in un piano di espansione economica per Pechino che vuole ricostruire la storica via della seta, sia da un punto di vista terrestre che marittimo. La Turchia, grazie alla sua posizione geostrategica, da sempre considerata la porta d’Oriente, incarna un ruolo particolarmente influente per Pechino ed è diventata una importante destinazione per i capitali cinesi. L’unione della via della seta e del corridoio di mezzo turco rappresentano per la Cina un importante tassello nel progetto di espansione economica dove il Mediterraneo orientale gioca un ruolo cruciale. La politica estera turca, sotto la guida del Presidente Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ha intrapreso un percorso di diversificazione aprendosi gradualmente verso l’Oriente, principalmente a causa dell’indebolimento delle relazioni con gli Stati Uniti e al crescere del sentimento negativo nei confronti dell’occidente all’interno dei circoli politici e della società.

The analysis of Turkish-Chinese relations represents a peculiar case study to analyze middle powers’ behavior during a power transition (US-China). Chinese footprint in the Middle East has been steadily growing over the last decade. Turkey, despite having historical relations with the US and Europe, decided to adopt an equidistant position, not counteracting Chinese investments in the country. The following article, through the lenses of Neoclassical Realism, analyzes the factors that brought Ankara to gradually open-up towards Beijing by elaborating on the behavior of a middle power during a power transition.

There is plenty of studies focusing on China's global outreach through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In tandem with this, the extensive literature on China depicts it as the next hegemon to succeed in the USA. Along this line, flourishing ties with various Asian nations, including the Middle Eastern countries, as a result of China's recent foreign policy activism has been addressed extensively. While most research has been stressing the rising assertiveness of China in world politics, only a limited number of studies have touched upon the responses from middle or small powers against China's ascent. Drawing from neoclassical realism, this article contends two levels of analysis for delineating the interaction between Turkey, a middle power, and China, a rising great power. First, the exchange between Turkey and the USA is vital in determining the cordial relations between Turkey and China. Alteration in the American policy vis-à-vis Turkey in the wake of the Arab Spring is relevant to Turkey's growing relations with China. Second, is the rising anti-Westernism of foreign policy elites as part of the alteration in the strategic culture of Turkish politics, which makes Turkey's rapprochement with China possible. Nevertheless, it should be noted that these two levels are intertwined and feed each other. Consequently, employing a neoclassical realist approach, the article argues that the middle powers' stance against a rising hegemon is conditional upon the bilateral relations with the current hegemon and peculiarities of domestic politics.