The Remaking of Republican Turkey

Nicholas L. Danforth has written widely about Turkey, U.S. foreign policy, and the Middle East for publications including The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, the New York Times and the Washington Post. He received his Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University.

• Introduction; 1. A Nation Votes: Democratic Modernity for the Masses; 2. Turkey Attends the American Classroom: Modernization as U.S. Policy and Propaganda; 3. Europe in Asia and Asia in Europe: Synthetic Identities and the Promise of Paradox; 4. Multi-Purpose Empire: Reinventing Ottoman History in Republican Turkey; 5. Istanbul Yesterday and Today: Making the Past Modern; 6. Ottomans, Arabs and Americans: Geography and Identity in Turkish Diplomacy; 7. The Path to Progress and to God: Islamic Modernism for the Cold War; Conclusion.

'An original and perceptive piece of work. In his focus upon the country's turn towards democracy after 1950, Nicholas Danforth depicts the development of politics and identity in Turkey in a new light. Danforth challenges popular convention in demonstrating the ongoing resonance of ideas and institutions dating back to the Ottoman Empire. The beginning of the Cold War, we learn, marks important moments of continuity and rupture in terms of Turkey's relationship with the West and secularism. In his retelling of this critical period in the country's history, Danforth offers readers a new point of orientation in dealing with the legacies of Turkey's imperial past. It is a book that is groundbreaking in many ways.' Ryan Gingeras, Naval Postgraduate School