Sinan Ülgen is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe in Brussels, where his research focuses on Turkish foreign policy, transatlantic relations, and international trade policy.
He is a founding partner of Istanbul Economics, a Turkish consulting firm that specializes in public and regulatory affairs, and chairman of the Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies, an independent think tank in Istanbul.
Ülgen has served in the Turkish Foreign Service in several capacities: in Ankara on the United Nations desk (1990–1992); in Brussels at the Turkish Permanent Delegation to the European Union (1992–1996); and at the Turkish embassy in Tripoli (1996).
He is a regular contributor to Turkish dailies, and his opinion pieces have been published in the International New York Times, the Financial Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Le Figaro. He was a member of the international security experts group set up by former NATO secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen and tasked with preparing a report on the transatlantic relationship in advance of NATO’s September 2014 summit.
Ülgen is the author of Rewiring Globalisation (Carnegie Europe, 2022), Governing Cyberspace: A Road Map for Transatlantic Leadership (Carnegie Europe, 2016), Handbook of EU Negotiations (Bilgi University Press, 2005), and The European Transformation of Modern Turkey with Kemal Derviş (Centre for European Policy Studies, 2004).
In recent years, trade wars, geopolitical competition, and the weaponization of interdependence have emerged as threats to Europe’s economic security. To boost its resilience and strengthen its strategic autonomy, the EU has started to infuse its economic policies with geopolitical considerations.
In response to great-power rivalry and the weaponization of interdependence, the EU has adopted a geopolitical approach to economic statecraft. To build resilience and maintain its international credibility, the union will have to balance its pursuit of economic security with broader foreign policy goals.
But what are the chances of its success, especially amid new terrorism threats?
The multifaceted nature of Turkish-Russian relations is tied to Türkiye’s changing relations with the West and its strategic maneuvers for greater autonomy.
In a series of four new cross-cutting studies, Carnegie scholars and affiliates examine Türkiye’s policy orientations and their impact on the United States, and by extension, the transatlantic partnership.
Türkiye’s foreign policy has been deemed by analysts as a “re-orientation” and rupture with the country’s diplomatic past.
Türkiye is an important transatlantic actor in Sino-Western competition. It can add value to Western efforts aimed at synchronizing policies toward a rising China. And yet, at present, Ankara’s policies on China are not harmonized with those of its partners in the West.
Instagram’s suspension in Turkey reflects how platforms’ content governance is shaped by a Western worldview.
Join us for an in-depth discussion on Syria’s gradual normalization with countries in the Middle East and its reinstatement in the League of Arab States in May 2023, a significant step that signals a potential shift in Middle Eastern dynamics and regional security architecture. The normalization process began in 2018 when the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain reopened their embassies in Damascus, after Syria had been suspended from the Arab League in 2011 due to its brutal crackdown on protesters. Recently, Türkiye has also shown interest in normalizing relations with Syria, driven by concerns over Kurdish influence in northern Syria and the refugee crisis. The panel will evaluate the normalization process to date, examine the regime's willingness and capability to deliver on its promises, and assess whether the initial motivations of Arab states for normalization have been met. European and U.S. reactions have generally remained more cautious, emphasizing that normalization should be contingent on tangible political reforms by the Assad regime and adherence to human rights standards.
Against this backdrop of developments, the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center is hosting a virtual panel discussion on August 8, at 5:00 PM Beirut Time/ 10:00 AM EDT. The event will feature Sinan Ulgen, Sawsan Abou Zainedin, Abdullah Baabood, and Maria Luisa Fantappiè, and will be moderated by Armenak Tokmajyan.
The discussion will be held in English. Viewers may submit their questions to the panelists using the live chat feature on Facebook and YouTube.
For more information, please contact Najwa Yassine at najwa.yassine@carnegie-mec.org.
With the Turkish opposition’s stunning electoral upset on Sunday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party are finally reaping the consequences of ill-considered macroeconomic policies. But the real winner of these critical local elections may be Turkish democracy.
