Book excerpt: Turkey has emerged during the past decade as an important player on the world scene. It is involved in many issues and areas of great interest to the United States —NATO, the Caucasus and Central Asia, the Middle East, the Balkans, and Greece —and U.S.-Turkish relations grew very close in the past decade. This book analyzes the nature of Turkey's major internal problems, such as the Kurds and the rise of political Islam, and the impact of these issues on U.S. policymaking.