Lieutenant Colonel Usaf Jos Codispoti

Star and Crescent: Turco-israeli Partnership in a Tough Neighborhood: Maxwell Paper No. 22 Lieutenant Colonel Usaf Jos Codispoti

Publisher Marketing: Optimism for a more peaceful post-Cold War era has been tempered by greater international instability and the weakening of some nation-states. Former client states, no longer moderated by the influences of their pervious superpower patrons resort to violent suppressions of political opponents and ethnic minorities. Former nations divide along ethnic lines, often spawning new political divisions that are neither stable nor sustainable. Perhaps nowhere are these dynamics more evident than in the "arc of crises," a region extending from the Balkans through Asia Minor to the Caucasus and Central Asia. Turkey, due in part to her geographic location in the heart of this unstable region and her newly assertive foreign policy, has been disproportionately impacted by this post-Cold War disorder. In this study, Lt. Col. Joseph M. Codispoti, USAF, describes an emerging partnership between two long-time allies of the United States - Turkey and Israel. On the surface this Muslim-Jewish partnership seems unlikely, particularly on the fringes of the Arab world. A closer examination, however, reveals a number of mutual security interests and a shared sense of isolation at the crossroads of Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East. Colonel Codispoti begins his study by examining relations between Turkey and Israel from the founding of Israel in 1948 through the 1980s. While relations vacillated during these early years, the foundation was built for deeper and more significant ties. The advent of post-Cold War instability in the arc of crisis served as the catalyst for growing and extensive political, military, and economic links between the unlikely partners. This study concludes by addressing future possibilities for and barriers to the emerging Turco-Israeli partnership, as well as its far-reaching potential to bring stability or conflict to the region. The Turco-Israel partnership has important national security implications for the United States. Working in tandem, these allies can promote the American vision for the region by fostering democracy, peace, and free markets in the region. Contributor Bio:  Press, Air University Walter Gary Sharp Sr. serves as a senior associate deputy general counsel for intelligence at the US Department of Defense, where he advises on legal issues related to intelligence, covert action, intelligence and counterintelligence policy, intelligence oversight, information security, information sharing, security classification policy, information operations, and computer network operations. Prior to his appointment, Dr. Sharp served as an associate deputy general counsel for international affairs at the Department of Defense; the director of legal research for international, comparative, and foreign law at the Law Library of Congress; the director of global and functional affairs within the Bureau of Legislative Affairs at the State Department; and a principal information security engineer at The MITRE Corporation. A veteran with 25 years of service, Dr. Sharp retired as a decorated US Marine Corps lieutenant colonel with prior enlisted service. His military assignments include commanding officer of a field artillery battery, senior prosecutor, deputy legal counsel to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and international law adviser for the commanding general of the Unified Task Force in Somalia during Operation Restore Hope. Dr. Sharp's military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, and his many awards for writing excellence and academic achievement include the Judge Advocate General's School Alumni Association Annual Professional Writing Award and an American Bar Association Award for Professional Merit. Dr. Sharp is the author of numerous articles and three books: UN Peace Operations (1995), CyberSpace and the Use of Force (1999), and Jus Paciarii (1999). He serves as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center where he currently teaches a counterterrorism course, The Law of 24. He has also taught graduate-level seminars on United Nations peace operations and international peace and security. He lectures internationally in universities and other diverse public forums on wide-ranging topics of international law and national security law, such as international peace and security, conflict management, and peacekeeping operations.