The influence of business on foreign economic policy: The case of Turkey and MUSIAD

Abstract

With the effect of neo-liberal policies and globalization, especially in the last 40 years, the business world has gradually gained influence both economically and politically. In this research, we have addressed the political side of this effect by making use of the theoretical framework of the trading state and examining the state-business interaction. The main purpose of this research was to see whether the business world could influence the foreign economic policy of the state. We chose Turkey as an example for the state, and MUSIAD, a businessmen's association as an example for the business world, and evaluated the level of this interaction and how much it affected foreign policy through interviews. Focusing on the Covid-19 epidemic period, which greatly affected states and the business world, we investigated how the state-business relationship changed during this period. As a result, we have seen that the active actor in determining the foreign policy for Turkey, in general, is still the state (government, leader, etc.), and we have observed through our interviews that this situation has not changed during the pandemic period.