Dual agent of transition: how Turkey perpetuates and challenges neo-patrimonial patterns in its post-Soviet neighbourhood

Abstract

As hybrid regimes persist, we need to better understand their behaviour in international affairs. Concentrating on business actors, we use a qualitative study of Turkey's foreign relations with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine in the period 2014-2018 to explore how hybrid regimes disseminate regime-related principles. Inspired by the concepts of neo-patrimonialism and limited access orders, we argue that hybrid regimes lack cohesion and cannot compel all relevant actors to disseminate a coherent set of regime-related principles. Depending on their domestic environment, Turkish actors transmit both neo-patrimonial closure and competitive openness, which makes Turkey's hybrid regime a dual agent of transition.

Trade-offs and inconsistencies of the Russian foreign policy: The case of Eurasia

“…The Russian political regime combines formal democratic institutions and informal personalist authoritarian practices (McFaul, 2020). Such "hybrid" regimes often "lack cohesion in their domestic dominant coalition which limits their ability to project a coherent dissemination strategy in their foreign policy" (Frahm & Hoffmann, 2020). In fact, it would be difficult for any regime to sustain public support on spending federal budget on costly geopolitical projects, while cutting planned budget expenses on health care during the global pandemic as well as on the military personal.…”

Towards open access social orders in Eastern Europe

“…The role of Turkey in the broader region of Eastern Europe and the Caucasus is clearly growing, as the outcome of the latest iteration of the armed conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh showed. The article by Frahm and Hoffmann (2021), however, focuses on the less understood role of business actors from Turkey, as an example how regionally powerful hybrid regimes combining authoritarian and democratic features can influence the transformation towards open orders in their neighbourhood. Economic relations between Turkey and a number of post-Soviet states take centre stage in their analysis, and they find that economic relations provide ample opportunities for broader influence.…”

“…In theoretical terms, Frahm and Hoffmann (2021) propose that hybrid regimes (like Turkey) find it hard to coordinate actors around the implementation of a coherent foreign policy strategy, unlike autocratic states such as Russia. Nonetheless, individual actors can export aspects of the hybrid regime, for example, when it comes to governance norms or ways of doing business.…”