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and purpose- is the principal binding force that integrates the members ofthat society and enables them to act effectively in common to solve theirdomestic and foreign problems."(5)The relevance and durability of the Kemalist doctrine thus depend onits continued congruence vvith the deeply felt convictions of the Turkishpeople. Kemalism survived and remained a relevant force över the pastsixty years despite many upheavals and turbulence in the Turkish bodypolitics because this congruence vvas correctly perceived and articulated.The survical of Kemalism does, therefore, not require a Turkey in a permanentstate of equilibrium. No modern state is ever in a state of permanentequilibrium. "They are constantly in the process of change, and it isthe most characteristic feature of the modern era that change has beenmore rapid and thoroughgoing than in any other period in history."(6)History also telis us that change and modernisation are not necessarilylinear and progressive. For instance, particularly in some African states,efforts to modernise have precipitated stagnation and decay. The processof political change and modernisation could, therefore, be creative andprogressive or destructive and regressive, depending on how leaders andpolicy-makers deal vvith the challenges their countries are faced vvith.Turkey vvas very fortunate to have Atatürk as leader, reformer, andlater as symbol and lodestar to guide it into the difficult and uncertain future.Even so, vvise leadership and strategic excellence vvill continue be ata premium if Turkey's present generation is to succeed in coping vvith therapidly changing circumstances facing it.Sooner or later, situations do arrive in the lives of most states vvhichrequire a radical redefınition of their raisons d'etre. This could mean ideologicalrenevval, the replacement of socio-political paradigms, change inthe form of government, and so on. In his recent book The Clash of Civilizationsand the Remaking of World Order. Samuel P Huntington commentsthat Turkey could conceivably "do a South Africa". This vvould entail,according to Huntington: "abandoning secularism as alien to itsbeing as South Africa abandoned apartheid and thereby changing itselffrom a pariah state in its civilisation to a leading state of that civilization."Huntington continues to state that: "Having experienced the badand the good of the West in secularism and democracy, Turkey may beequally qualified to lead islam. But to do so it vvould have to reject Ataturk'slegacy more thoroughly than Russia has rejected Lenin's. It vvouldalso take a leader of Atatürk's calibre and one vvho combined religiousand political legitimacy to remake Turkey from a torn country into a corestate."(7)Tvvo important issues of principle seem to be involved if Turkeyvvere to decide to "do a South Africa". Firstly, there vvould have to befundamental redefınition of the Turkish secular cultural identity, and sec-704