Certain regions of the world experience more conflict than others. Previous analyses have shown that a civil war in one country significantly increases the likelihood that neighboring states will experience conflict. This finding, however, still remains largely unexplained. We argue that population movements are an important mechanism by which conflict spreads across regions. Refugee flows are not only the consequence of political turmoil—the presence of refugees and displaced populations can also increase the risk of subsequent conflict in host and origin countries. Refugees expand rebel social networks and constitute a negative externality of civil war. Although the vast majority of refugees never directly engage in violence, refugee flows may facilitate the transnational spread of arms, combatants, and ideologies conducive to conflict; they alter the ethnic composition of the state; and they can exacerbate economic competition. We conduct an empirical analysis of the link between refugees and civil conflict since the mid-twentieth century, and we find that the presence of refugees from neighboring countries leads to an increased probability of violence, suggesting that refugees are one important source of conflict diffusion.

For many decades domestic political instability, anti-globalization economic ideologies and geopolitical turmoil prevented the Levant countries from developing closer economic relations. In an unexpected turn of events the AKP government in Turkey initiated proactive diplomacy aimed at the promotion of closer economic ties with Levant countries and these efforts led to a significant increase in trade and investment between the Levant countries between 2002-2010. This progress came to an end with the Arab Spring uprisings in 2011. These uprisings evolved into a violent sectarian war in Syria and caused considerable damage to Turkey’s economic and diplomatic relations with Syria and Egypt. The level of sectarian violence has declined significantly in Syria and there is some potential that a political solution can be implemented. This outcome will have a positive effect on the region’s prospects for restarting the economic cooperation that was suspended in 2011. The short-term prospects for a multi-lateral economic agreement are not high but an expansion of bilateral economic relations is more likely among the countries that enjoy more political and economic stability.

Turkey’s perception of the Levant has been hazy in modern times and the country has not constructed a holistic approach towards the region until recently, despite the fact that Turkey has sought closer cooperation with the Levantine countries since the late 1990s. In addition to Turkey’s willingness to open up to the region, recent international developments, such as the discovery of hydrocarbons off the coast of Israel, Egypt and Cyprus, the outbreak of the Arab Spring, and changes in the regional balance of power have provided momentum for Turkey’s engagement with the region. This paper argues that although these factors have provided space for Turkey to play a more assertive role in the region, the country has thus far failed to present a successful region-wide strategy or carve up an influence zone.