Turkey's Higher Education Potential for Human Capital of Eurasian Region

The main aim of this chapter is not only to examine and discuss Turkey's recent higher education potential, and its framework for human capital in the context of economic and geopolitical standpoints of Eurasia, but also to provide a clear picture and lasting impact on a significant scale of this potential in a systematic and holistic way at a glance. This main aim includes the following sub-goals, which outline the framework of the research, examine the internationalization process of higher education system of Turkey, provide a specific picture about the general situation of higher education not only in Turkey but also the world by using basic current higher education indicators in numbers, graphs, and tables, provide a basic information on the concept of internationalization of higher education as well as the reasons behind. Qualitative method is conducted so as to accomplish these goals. The data of certain official institutions were used, the charts created based on these numbers in order to visualize the concept of the study and to make it more comprehensible and concrete.

“Sovereign Democracy” Discourse in the Russian Foreign Policy

Many important changes occurred in the Russian Federation's foreign policy since 2000s with Putin's coming to power. Although the foreign policy is defined as pragmatic during this period, it is in fact ideologically constructed on the basis of the concept of “sovereign democracy.” The concept constitutes in the same time the source of loyalty of the Russian reelpolitik towards the West, especially the USA and of the Russian anti-globalist policies. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the intellectual, normative, and conceptual dimensions of the “sovereign democracy” concept that could serve to conceive the foreign policy practice of the Russian Federation, on the one hand, and on the other hand its dialectical relationships with the West in the era of globalization.

History of the USSR and CIS

This chapter provides an overview of the history of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, from the time of its creation as a result of the 1917 Russian Revolution, to its dissolution in 1991. The major emphasis is on economic conditions, with political and social conditions as background. The chapter then discusses The Commonwealth of Independent States, the alliance that included most of the 15 former Soviet republics that became independent countries. Developments in Russia, the largest both geographically and demographically, as well as the most powerful of the CIS countries, are the major focus from 1991 to 2017.

What If the USSR Comes Back to Life Once Again?

The Soviet Union played the role of a great power in the international system for many decades after World War II, and the main sources of Soviet power came from its hard components of power such as large territory, large populations, and solid industrial base. However, the Soviet Union dissolved at the end of the Cold War in 1991 and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as an alternative body of former great power was established. However, the CIS still attempts to overtake the symbolic image of a post-Soviet region to rebuild a powerful multilateral organization in realms of security, trade, and finance. Thus, the question is, What if the Commonwealth of Independent States turns out to a unitary coherent actor able to compete in the international system as a great power? In order to answer this question, this chapter will try to measure the composite index of national capability (CINC) of the CIS combined and compare it with the CINC scores of the United States and China to figure out the main CIS potentials in terms of hard power components such as total population, urban population, steel production, energy consumption, military personnel, and military expenditure.

Curriculum Reforms in Turkey

The aim of this chapter is to examine and assess the basic structure of changes in the 2004 curriculum in Turkey. It also aims at evaluating how restructuring of the education system in Turkey have been affected by the general social and educational trends in the changing world and by the accession process to the European Union. Literature and document analyses-including curricula development endeavors in education in Turkey dated 1924, 1926, 1936, 1948, 1962, 1968, 1998, and 2004 since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923 were used in this study. Of the educational curricula, especially the 2004 Educational Curriculum, was examined in terms of its vision, structure, aims, and contents as well as evaluating the effects of the general, social, educational trends, the educational norms, and preferences of the European Union on this curriculum. This study demonstrates the effects of an improvement movement that can be effective in terms of the effects and outcomes in Turkey as a growing and developing country in the Eurasian region can also be important for many other countries in the Eurasian region. In other words, similar improvement policies can be followed in other countries of the Eurasian region. As a result of these reform efforts, these countries can have an opportunity to increase their level of development first and then contribute to the economic and geopolitical importance of the Eurasian region in the general sense.

Framing of National Image in a Climate of Socio-Political Uncertainty

The climate ripple of socio-political relations between countries can be seen to directly influence trading and international business relations. Discourse within the socio-political realms reflects in discourse within the economic realms. A common channel through which such perspectives are mediated between the political realms, corporate relations, and public opinion is the news media, both traditional and new, such as social media and Internet publishing. This chapter examines and compares how major business newspapers in Sweden, Dagens Industry (DI), and two business newspapers in Russia, Kommersant (Ъ-Газета - Коммерсантъ) and RBC (РБК) represent Sweden's national image between 2014-2015, a period of uncertain socio-political relations between Russia and the Nordic Eurasian states, in particular, Sweden, in the process of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014.

A History of the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga

The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. created a kind of higher education vacuum, especially in the disciplines of economics and business. The result was the development of a wide range of new educational initiatives by government, not-for-profit organizations, and foreign institutions. In 1994, the Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) opened a foreign branch campus in Riga, Latvia, the aim of which was to rehabilitate higher education in the Baltic countries, in the disciplines of economics and business. This chapter chronicles the history of the SSE in Riga. It begins with a brief introduction to the Stockholm School of Economics. It then traces the transnationalization of the SSE, with an emphasis on its foreign branch campus in Riga, Latvia.

Are the Commonwealth of Independent States and Eurasian Union Able to Enhance Economic and Political Cooperation in the Post-Soviet Space?

This chapter aims to analyze the efficiency of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and Eurasian Union from Kyrgyzstan's perspective. Two main concepts of the relations of the CIS countries are applied initially. One of them proceeds from the expediency of the formation of close integration ties, creating favorable partnerships, taking into account changes of a geopolitical nature, and the need for a coordinated restructuring of the regional economy. The second concept focuses on the economic restructuring and isolation of Russia. This is contrasted with the much more pressing impact of the EEU on the economy of one member of the CIS, Kyrgyzstan. The arguments in favor of closer union hinge on such economic considerations. However, currently in some CIS/EEU countries there are opponents of such a close interaction with Russia, which is seen as seeking to impose its conditions on export, extending its market as well as its political influence. The latest is reflected in so called nationalistic discourse in Kyrgyzstan.

Corruption in the CIS and Eurasia

The research question is whether there is a sufficiently homogeneous pattern of corruption among 15 countries of Eurasia stemming from the Soviet communist heritage and USSR disintegration that a reasonably common set of anti-corruption reform policy recommendations will be effective. The proposed findings draw on a literature review and a comparative analysis of 2016 Transparency International (TI)'s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) information for countries in the region. The methodology is an analysis of the literature and the TI 2016 CPI information. There is explicitly no original field research or theory development. Perceived corruption in the region appears to be a heterogeneous phenomenon. There is a wide range in the TI perceived corruption of these countries. Political will and popular support for anti-corruption efforts likely vary greatly across the fifteen countries of CIS and Eurasia. Anti-corruption effectiveness thus likely varies markedly by country. An assessment requires country-by-country detailed investigation.

The Importance of Geopolitical Factors in International Location Decisions

Despite connections and common traits between geopolitics and international business based on geography and location, literature on this matter is somewhat scarce. This chapter aims to contribute to this literature gap. Using the Russian Federation as a case study and by framing its geopolitical situation, it seeks to answer the following question: What is the importance of geopolitical factors in international location decisions? Applying a hybrid methodology which combines qualitative and quantitative analyses, the chapter concludes though Russia has an innately favorable geopolitical situation, its full potential is not being exploited, remaining latent and underutilized. Additionally, the pragmatic standing of Russia's foreign policy, the permanence of some structures recalling the USSR and the persistence of corruption, and an unsteady business environment place constraints on improving the open market and raises obstacles to FDI.