Description
Barack Obama’s 2009 visit to Turkey resulted in an Obama-mania in the Turkish media, followed by a friendship between Obama and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, which was widely reported in the media and emphasised in their rhetoric. In this lecture, the panellists explain the Erdoğan–Obama friendship narrative by interpreting the relationship through the five key components of political friendship: affect; grand project; altruistic reciprocity; moral obligations; and equality. Our guests argue that histories, leadership styles, and political goals diverged to such an extent that an actual political friendship never existed.Through sentimental utility theory (SUT), the researchers illuminate the function of friendship narratives and offer insights into how collective emotions produce in-group identities and generate stability for a state’s population. SUT reveals how Erdoğan utilised the Obama-mania in Turkey to create the idea of a personal bond between Obama and himself, and a link between Obama’s progressive politics and Erdoğan’s own policies. This example can be used to show how future research might deploy SUT to make sense of other narratives of friendship and special relationships between states and between state leaders.
| Period | 17 Mar 2022 |
|---|---|
| Held at | German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Germany |
| Degree of Recognition | International |
Research programs
- ESHCC HIS