This article is part of ourEconomy's 'Decolonising the economy' series.
The world capitalist system is characterised by hierarchies among countries, which both stem from and reproduce uneven economic development. In this sense, the world economy can be considered imperialistic. Located at the periphery of global capitalism, Turkey has long had dependent economic, political, and military relations with the big Western powers. At the same time, however, over the past decades it has been pursuing ‘proactive’ foreign as well as economic policy in the Middle East, policy which can be considered ‘sub-imperialist’. This has sometimes brought about tension between Turkey and the Western countries. Turkey’s ruling AKP party has continued to forcefully promote not only its economic but also political and military interests significantly in Syria and Qatar, despite facing the immediate possibility of a massive economic crisis.
