Republican Foundations

Abstract

If the ideological outlines of the new order had already been conceptualized by thinkers such as Ziya Gökalp, and if its physical parameters had already been delineated by the traumas climaxing in World War I, it took the genius of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk¹ — bolstered by his unparalleled popularity as leader of the National Struggle (Milli Mücadele) — to actualize it. His successors then tried to codify his vision the better to transmit it to future generations. Fortunately for them, they did so during a window of relative isolation, when the great powers remained preoccupied with their own political and economic concerns. The outcome of their efforts was a Republican strategic culture paradigm of remarkable potency and durability.