Cooperation Amid Rivalry: The Case of Greece and Turkey.

In this study we examine the capacity of competing international relations theories to explain the quality of relations that develops between allied former military rivals. Consideration is given to explanations derived from neoliberal institutionalism and constructivism as well as to our proposed alternative realist-based model. We argue that alignment interconnections best capture and explain variations in cooperative relations overtime and ultimately the quality of peace that results between allied former rivals. Alignment interconnections render relations within a former rival dyad a function of their relations to a common third party security provider as much as to their shared or competing bilateral interests. In an effort to test these competing arguments, we examine the case of Greece and Turkey. Through an investigation of various episodes of cooperation and non-cooperation since 1955 we found in general that cooperation tended to occur when mutual abandonment fears were high and complex abandonment fears were low or when alternative exit options were limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]