التحوط الاستراتيجي وإدارة التوازن في السياسة الخارجية التركية: الحرب الروسية- الأوكرانية أنموذجاً

Abstract

This study aims to analyze Turkish foreign policy toward the Russian–Ukrainian war since 2022 in light of the concept of strategic hedging and its vision for managing balance in international relations, by examining the nature of Turkish external behavior and whether it reflects traditional balancing or a pattern based on combining cooperation and balancing. The study concludes that Turkey adopted a strategy of strategic hedging, manifested in supporting Ukraine politically and militarily, while at the same time maintaining its economic and diplomatic relations with Russia, as well as playing the role of mediator between the two parties. The results indicate that this approach enabled Turkey to manage a flexible balance between competing parties, reduce risks, and enhance the autonomy of its strategic decision-making, underscoring the importance of hedging as an analytical framework for understanding the behavior of middle powers in the contemporary international system.