Turkey's hybrid structure and history lends to its current, complex situation within the global order. Its location as a strategic gateway between the East and the West places it in a precarious position, politically, and economically and socially. Firmly rooted in Middle Eastern culture, yet with marked efforts towards engagement with the European community, Turkey has not been without its own internal and external struggles to solidify its identity. During the end of the 20th century, Turkey appeared to made strides towards a more Westernized stance in its global positioning. However tensions among various ethnic and social groups and movements, including the Kurds, Israel, the Arab Uprising, etc. have exposed Turkey's evolution fraught with implications of a state amidst the battleground of divergent ideologies.

Marked by distinct struggles for power in the region, the state's standing and reputation have been continuously impacted by political leaders and movements, resources, religion, and external events related to the shifting of the world power structure. No man is an island, and no country exists within a vacuum. Caught within a complex system of the aforementioned factors and international players, Turkey's actions and reactions to distinct and evolving events can be examined within the framework of neoclassical realism compared with constructivism.