“Prolonged instability and violence or state collapse in Syria and Iraq, as well as major changes in Turkish attitudes, may produce the right conditions for the establishment of a Kurdish state or new autonomous regions.” Third in a series on resurgent nationalism around the world.

As long as Turkey's desire for EU membership represented an abstract ideal…, Turkey's military and civilian elite could avoid acknowledging the potential political costs of membership in the eu. And as long as the Europeans kept Turkey at arm's length, that elite's willingness to implement the domestic reforms necessary for EU membership was never put to the test.