ARAB STUDIES QUARTERLY, VOLUME 27, NO. 1-2, 2005.
Mustafa AYDIN* and Damla ARAS**
It is often argued that interdependent economic relations between countries could create a favorable atmosphere to the solution of political problems, thus enhancing peace and security. It has almost become atruism to cite Franco-German relations, and in a wider scale the development ofthe European Union, as ample examples of this argument.' The proof is clearly there: Further interdependence among the westem European countries through economic integration led to the emergence of, first, a core 'zone of peace', and then gradually a continent-wide security community. Along the way, how this integration process started among the European states (the fact that it was almost forced upon them) is conveniently forgotten and the exogenous variables that affected its development over the years are less easily discernable.
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* Assoc. Prof., Department of International Relations, Ankara University.
** PhD Candidate and Research Assistant, King's College, Univesity of London.