Power Play - Nonstate actor incidents and their effect on bilateral relations

Abstract: This essay follows my attempt to explain how power structures dictate a state’s susceptibility to the actions of nonstate actors. Specifically, is there a way to determine if a onetime incident perpetrated by a nonstate actor can effectively reduce or increase bilateral relations between states? I hypothesized that I could effectively gauge the likelihood that political and economic activity between states would either suffer or flourish by comparing their bilateral relationship to the power a nonstate actor – like an nongovernmental organization or multinational corporation – can exert over one of the states. Under the complex interdependence theoretical framework of Robert O. Keohane and Joseph S. Nye’s, I formulated a disciplined configurative case study to investigate two contemporary nonstate actor incidents. The first case focused on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’s ability to reduce bilateral relations between Turkey and Israel. The second case concerned Delek-Noble drilling operations in Cyprus’ Block 12 and its effect on Greek and Israeli bilateral relations. I was able to determine that Turkey could ill afford the consequences of not severing political ties to Israel, although both states remain economically interdependent. Greece on the other hand, could not afford to miss the opportunity presented before it as bilateral relations with Israel rapidly developed.