Semboller ve sembolik düşünme ilkelden post-modern döneme kadar insan türünün ayırt edici özelliklerinden birisi olarak ele alınır. Dünyayı tanıma sürecinde insan modern zamanlarla birlikte farklı sembolik sistemler olarak öğretilerin, kuramların ve büyük anlatıların etkisi altındadır. Bunun altında yatan en önemli sebeplerden birisi ideolojinin kuramsal beşiği olan aydınlanmanın insanların hayatında bir “anlam” boşluğu ortaya çıkarmasıdır. Dünyaya anlam verme ihtiyacında olan insan çeşitli öğretilere, anlatılara ya da mitlere başvurarak bu boşluğu gidermeye çalışır. İdeolojiler kitlelere basit ve anlaşılır hayat tasavvurları yaratma ve çelişkileri en aza indirecek bir toplum haritası sunma iddiasındadırlar. Bundan dolayı birer anlam taşıyıcısı olarak sembolleri ve sembolik biçimleri de yoğun olarak kullanmak zorundadırlar. Çünkü ideolojiler var olmak için sürekli kitleye ihtiyaç duyarlar ve kitlenin türdeş bir hale getirilmesi semboller ile kuracağı birlik hissine bağlıdır. İdeolojilerin sembolleştirilmesi bu anlamda ideolojinin söylemlerinin, bir topluluğun inşa edilmesi sürecinde kendisini sembollerle ifade etmesidir. Çalışma bu doğrultuda ideoloji-anlam ekseninde sembollerin etkilerine ve kullanım biçimine odaklanmıştır.

The concept of community is a controversial concept in terms of social sciences. However, today, when considered together with the concepts of identity and belonging, it can be said that the community has strong connotations. Where the community begins and ends is explained by the concept of boundary. The inside or outside of the border is a map of meaning. Because giving meaning to complex nature and society is one of the most important needs of human beings, the crisis of meaning created by modern times for humanity has led to the strengthening of grand narratives. The narratives, which propose various ways of life for the salvation of humanity, especially make use of symbols and symbolic forms. Because symbols are carriers of meaning, in this study, the identity factor, which constitutes the essence of the endless conflicts in the world, has been investigated with the symbolic constructs of the ideological view. For this, a connection has been established between identity, belonging and the community, which includes the meaning of collective action.

Human beings are born with language skills. However, the development of language is a result of human sociality and culture. Language is transmitted both vertically from generation to generation and horizontally between people. It is assumed that what cannot be expressed in language is not real. Therefore, meaning is only possible within the boundaries of a language. Through meaning, everything that happens becomes conceptualized and standardized. Language shows the meaning of reality through signs. In this way, language goes beyond being a means of communication. It becomes a tool of power struggle. Identifying and revealing the ideological influence in language necessitates different linguistic methods. Because by their very nature, signs transmit an infinite number of complex connections. Ideology, presented as a way of thinking correctly, establishes social relations and directs social action through signs. In this sense, signs are key concepts in the reproduction of ideology. On the other hand, the symbol, which is considered a sign, serves a different dimension of ideology. Symbols also convey meaning. However, their arbitrary construction takes ideology out of the definition of the reproduction of power It gives ideology a dimension such as a mass movement, a grand narrative. Providing meaning to the masses and being a guide is a feature that ideologies establish with symbols. The aim of this study is to explain the possible links between reality, knowledge and ideology based on the distinctions between sign and symbol. In this way, a distinction is made between old-style knowledge and modern knowledge.

This paper investigates how economic capacity, budget priorities, and governance conditions jointly shape defense spending in a transparent and auditable empirical framework. Using annual cross-country data for 2002–2023 compiled from widely used international sources, we evaluate the relative importance of economic indicators, fiscal allocation patterns, and institutional factors in explaining defense expenditure outcomes. We use Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) to quantify the relative contribution of these factors in a transparent and interpretable manner. The results show that economic capacity and the way governments prioritize defense within overall public finances are the strongest and most consistent drivers of defense spending differences across countries. Governance conditions act as an institutional filter that can constrain or intensify these effects: more democratic and accountable environments tend to limit increases in defense spending, whereas lower political stability is associated with upward spending pressure. These findings are important because they clarify that defense expenditure is not determined by a single factor, but by a layered interaction between resources, priorities, and institutions. The study contributes a replicable and policy-relevant approach for interpreting defense spending dynamics and for supporting accountable decision-making in defense budgeting.

Nation states constitute the attractive state systems of modern times. In the new order, the nation state, which is founded on a secular worldview, is built with symbols. Through symbolic contents such as flags, anthems and ceremonies, people build cultural unity. At the same time, they feel gratitude to the state to which they belong and bless being together. The feeling of being us is the most fundamental element that consolidates the nation. The European Union, which is expanding with the idea of Europeanness, is also trying to utilize various symbolic contents to build a super-identity. While the idea of a united Europe is not new, the concept of Europeanness is relatively new. Designing a new identity that transcends national identity nevertheless creates the necessity of finding common values to strengthen the sense of unity. The European Union is an important example of how the symbols of the nation-state work in a transnational system. In the context of recent studies of the union, which started out as an economic integration, the study is based on how symbols that are functional for nation states are positioned in a different system. Political determinations on European Union have been made in this context.

In this article, the philosophical (critical) continuity between ancient Greek skepticism (Pyrrhonism) and postmodern political theory is pointed out. This continuity (philosophical reincarnation) is demonstrated by referring to Sextus Empiricus’ writings on Pyrrhonism, as well as two different approaches that are considered to reflect postmodern political theory in its most salient features, such as anti-fundamentalism: Chantal Mouffe’s “project of radical democracy” and the “art of doubt” in Ulrich Beck’s “reflexive” modernity. The content of the identified continuity is basically the following: Just as the Pyrrhonian philosopher aspires to achieve serenity of spirit by suspending judgment through doubt (“epoche” and “ataraksia”) [epəkē –αταραξία], the postmodern theorist aims to end organized political violence by doubting all modern truth allegations. In other words, the individual hope of the Pyrrhonian philosopher is reproduced in the postmodern mind as a socio-political ideal. In Michel Foucault’s terms, the “regime of truth” or the “politics of truth” is an option that often leads to the “terror of truth”. The politics of doubt, on the other hand, is a peaceful, tolerant alternative. According to the postmodern theorist, skepticism is a highly strategic element of a pluralist (libertarian) democratic order. The intellectual way to make modern democracy even more democratic is, first and foremost, through a skepticism that makes absolutely no concessions to truth allegations. In this respect, the most uncompromising skeptic in the history of philosophy is the Pyrrhonian philosopher. Pyrrhonism is the summit of anti-dogmatism. This means that the postmodern theorist is not so much a postmodern agent. In other words, postmodern political theory is the theory of an innovation that is already obsolete.