Since the end of the Cold War, and perhaps even the early days of the Turkish Republic, there have rarely been so many open questions regarding Turkey?'s role in the world. What is Turkey?'s place in Eu-rope, NATO, and the E.U.? What risks and opportunities exist for Turkey in a conflict-ridden Middle East? How will Ankara deal with a changing Russia, an un-stable Caucasus, and Central Asia? Can Turkey?'s competitive relationship with Greece be moderated against a back-ground of successive Balkan crises? Meanwhile, Turkey faces daunting political, economic, and social pres-sures at home, which in turn affect the country?'s foreign and security policies.
F. Stephen Larrabee is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, its Distinguished Chair Emeritus in European Security, and a member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty.
Before joining RAND, Larrabee served as vice president and director of studies of the Institute of East–West Security Studies in New York from 1983 to 1989, and was also a Distinguished Scholar in Residence (1989–1990). From 1978 to 1981, he served on the U.S. National Security Council staff in the White House as a specialist on Soviet–East European affairs and East-West political-military relations.
Larrabee's RAND monographs include Troubled Partnership: U.S.-Turkish Relations in an Era of Global Geopolitical Change (2010); Turkey as a U.S. Security Partner (2008); The Rise of Political Islam in Turkey (with Angel Rabasa, 2008); and Encouraging Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in Ukraine (with Keith Crane, 2007). His articles include "Arming Europe," in The National Interest (with Seth G. Jones, Winter 2005–2006); and "ESDP and NATO: Assuring Complementarity," in The International Spectator (January–March 2004).
In addition, Larrabee is the coauthor (with Julian Lindley-French) of Revitalizing the Transatlantic Security Partnership: An Agenda for Action (RAND/Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2008); the editor of The Volatile Powder Keg: Balkan Security After the Cold War (American University Press, 1994); and coeditor (with Robert Blackwill) of Conventional Arms Control and East-West Security (Duke University Press, 1989).
Larrabee has taught at Columbia, Cornell, New York, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, and The George Washington universities, and at the University of Southern California. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.