Turkey considers the United States not simply a rival but a declining rival which has abandoned foreign intervention in the Middle East since the Obama Administration leading to political vacuum, Howard Eissenstat, an Associate Professor of Middle East history at St. Lawrence University, said in an AHVAL podcast with Ahval’s editor-in-chief Yavuz Baydar.



Eissenstat said that Turkey and the US will continue to cooperate despite growing tensions between the two countries. However, Turkey sees itself as an ascending power and it considers the US a declining hegemon. ‘‘Turkey considers the US not simply a rival but a declining rival which has abandoned foreign intervention policy in the Middle East since the Obama Administration leading to a political vacuum’’, said Eissenstat.
‘‘It is utterly unsurprising that Turkey, which has long believed that it had a natural role of leadership in the region, would try to step into that gap‘‘.