In social sciences terms and concepts are marked by a high degree of abstraction. In the light of the research question, this chapter seeks to overcome this problem and will operationalize the concepts applied in the thesis at hand. For this purpose, this chapter will clearly define the following concepts: domestic politics, foreign policy, international system and Islamic State.
Domestic Politics
The term politics has to be differentiated clearly from the two other dimensions of the political, applying to polity (political community) and policy (content/regulations). Accordingly, politics describes political processes on the nation-state level, for instance elections, voting or lobbying. This includes procedures within the decision-making process such as political disputes, debates or acts of war. In short, politics refers to power struggles between domestic actors inside of a state. (Vowe 2008: 620) In the Encyclopedia of Political Communication, the scholar Gerhard Vowe defines politics as the ‘(…) core of the political system’. (ibid.: 620) Methodically, doing research on
domestic politics means to decompose the state into single fragments, known as
opening the black box for detailed examinations. With regard to Turkey as the object of investigation, it is important to point out that the analysis of domestic politics is not limited to pure democracies. In any type of regime domestic political processes take place, although they are less transparent then in democracies. (Rathbun 2011: 691- 692)
Foreign Policy
The terminus foreign policy emerged within the process of increasing bureaucratization and systematization of state affairs during the industrial age. On the very basic level,
foreign policy can be characterized as the total amount of relations in the international
system by an independent actor, mostly the state. (Hill 2014: 320-321) In the classical sense, foreign policy is subjected to the governmental authority which consist of the foreign minister, president, defence minister, foreign trade-minister et al. As a result of the evolvement of multi-, supra- and international organizations, the terminus foreign
policy also includes a state’s participation in or its relation to these organizations.
(Seidelmann 1994: 42) Yet, the concept of foreign policy must be understood in a holistic way since it includes any actions and attitudes referring to outside of the state. (Hill 2014: 320-321) These external relations defined as foreign policy consist of a
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variety of actions, for instance, diplomatic negotiations, conclusion of contracts and state visits. In the broader meaning, it also includes foreign trade policies or cultural policies. (Seidelmann 1994: 42)
International System
The International Encyclopaedia of Political Science describes the terminus
international system as follows: ‘The international system is made up of individual,
constituent units and an ordering principle that arranges the structure of those units, together forming a whole toward an outside environment.’ (Engelbrekt 2011: 1322) Thus, the international system consists of three basic elements: the units, the overall structure and the interaction that takes place between the units and the overall structure. (ibid.: 1323) It is above all the nature of the structure in IR theory that is subject of interest and that every school approaches differently. In this regard, the absence of a supranational authority in terms of a state’s foreign policy formulation is widely discussed.
One crucial characteristic of the international system is the territorial dimension. Traditionally, the relations between the states are based on mutual recognition of sovereignty. In the international system, states (units) communicate by using a variety of political instruments such as military power, diplomacy, economic resources or propaganda. However, demographic shifts and transnational cooperation undermine both national identities and the legal capacity of nation states. In this context, it is important to point out that the international system has always undergone a process of transformation; since the early 21st century it is mainly challenged by increasing
technologisation, globalization, violence by non-state actors and transnational movements. Besides this, the establishment of international organizations shape the environment of the modern international system, which is why scholars discuss the future order of the international system. (Rosow 2005: 455-457)
Islamic State
The self-proclaimed Islamic State (IS), since 2014 officially calling itself IS, previously known as Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), or Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (ISIS), is a militant movement that took over territory mainly in Syria, Iraq and Libya. (Bunzel 2015: 3) IS is classified or banned as a terrorist organization by most members of the international community including the UN, EU, USA and many non-EU
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countries such as Turkey, Russia or India. The number of terror attacks carried out by IS outside of their heartland has increased significantly since 2014. (Laub 2016)The militant group, having emerged in the aftermath of the USA Iraq invasion in 2003, used to be part of al Qaeda Iraq back then and eventually expanded territorially after the uprisings in Syria had erupted in 2011. Currently, around 6,5 million people live under the domination of IS whose aim is to establish a territorial state. In June 2014, the group declared the establishment of the Caliphate, hence, it claims authority of the entire Muslim population with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the position of the Caliph. In media and many academic works, the Syrian city of Raqqa is named as the de facto capital of IS where most administrative institutions are located. (ibid.) Although IS and al Qaeda have already separated from each other, IS still clearly needs to be distinguished from al Qaeda: While IS seeks to establish a Sunni Islamist state under the religious law of the Sharia in the regions of Syria and Iraq, al Qaeda focuses on attacking the USA and its allies without any territorial aspirations. (Cronin 2015)