Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signs the golden book as he meets Norway’s king on October 20, 2026, at the Royal Palace in Oslo. (Getty Images)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif sign a trilateral joint defense agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on August 7, 2026. (Getty Images)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac after they arrived at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, on August 15, 2025. (Getty Images)
A truck drives through the Alataw Pass Comprehensive Bonded Zone in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Located in the Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bortala in Xinjiang, the Alataw Pass borders Kazakhstan. (Getty Images)
Fighters from Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra Front drive in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo flying Islamist flags as they head to a frontline, on May 26, 2015. (Fadi al-Halabi/AFP/Getty Images)
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan holds a Koran at the opening ceremony of the Selehaddin Eyyubi airport on May 26, 2015, in eastern city of Hakkari. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)
Director of the American Foreign Policy Council’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute
Svante E. Cornell
Commentary
Long Read
Caption
AK Party Supporters in front of the poster of then-Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and then-Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (L) in Ankara, Turkey on August 27, 2014. (Murat Kaynak/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)