2543-7046 Dueling Personalities and Leadership Styles: Gül, Erdoğan, and the Parliament in Turkey’s Policymaking during the 2003 Iraq War Kesgin Barış author Elon University 01szgyb91 Correspondence to: Barış Kesgin 19 09 2022 Nr 6/2022 2022 169 191 Copyright © 2022 2022 <p>Recent research in International Relations pays more attention to the role of individuals in world politics. The subfield of Foreign Policy Analysis, in contrast, has a long-standing record in advancing its explanation of individuals in foreign policy. Specifically, at-a-distance approaches to studying individuals have grown noticeably. New theoretical connections (for example, to role theory), an expansion of its subjects and linguistic capabilities beyond English promise a growing literature in years to come. To continue to exploit the exploratory promise and illustrate these approaches’ability to account for individuals’impact on decision-making, this paper investigates Turkish foreign policymaking into the 2003 Iraq War under the leadership of two prime ministers. It utilizes Leadership Trait Analysis to profile Gul and Erdoğan, reports from multiple elite interviews, and connects the two leaders’profiles with associated behavioral expectations in their engagement with the parliament. Based on its findings in leaders’profiles and case study discussion, the paper argues an individual focused analysis offers much insight to understanding foreign policymaking processes and outcomes.</p> 1 Altunisik, M.B. (2006). “Turkey’s Iraq Policy: The War and Beyond”. Journal of Contemporary European Studies, 14(2), pp. 183–196. 2 Author’s interview with Bulent Arınc, Ankara, 2018. 3 Author’s interview with Ertuğrul Yalcınbayır, Bursa, 2018. 4 Balci, K. 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