, Columnist
Why Erdogan Doesn't Care About U.S. Good Will
There's too little incentive for Turks and others living under authoritarian regimes to look toward the West.
Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Belgrade, Serbia on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017.
Photographer: Oliver Bunic/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The diplomatic spat between the U.S. and Turkey is a symptom of a much broader phenomenon: Authoritarian rulers everywhere not only thumb their noses at the U.S, but they see no reason not to.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hasn't been a reliable U.S. ally since before the failed 2016 coup attempt, which he blames on the U.S.-based Turkish preacher Fethullah Gulen. In a recent essay about the U.S. war against Islamic State, former Defense Secretary Ash Carter wrote that Turkey "caused the most complications for the campaign" starting well before the coup.