Download or read book Regional Implications of an Independent Kurdistan written by Alireza Nader and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the potential regional implications of an independent Kurdistan in northern Iraq.
Download or read book Iraqi Kurdistan s Independence Referendum written by Eric Pichon and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 8 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 25 September 2017, the government of the autonomous Region of Kurdistan in Iraq, under its president, Masoud Barzani, organised a referendum on independence, disregarding calls by the Iraqi central government and the international community to postpone it. The referendum was held in the Kurdistan Region's constituencies and also in the neighbouring 'disputed' territories, in particular the oil-rich area of Kirkuk, which have de facto if not legally been governed by the Kurdish authorities since the moment they were recaptured from ISIL/Da'esh. Even though the 'yes' side has won, it is by no means certain that a Kurdish state will emerge in the near future. Such a state would be weakened by internal divisions and poor economic conditions. In addition, Syria, Turkey and Iran strongly condemned the referendum and have taken retaliatory action. Among other considerations, they are worried that an independent Kurdish state would encourage their own Kurdish populations to seek greater autonomy. However, the prospect of a Greater Kurdistan is remote, since the regional Kurdish landscape is dominated by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and its affiliate parties, which do not share the Iraqi Kurdish leaders' ideology or strategic alliances. Concerned by the fragmentation of the Middle East, the EU, the USA, Russia, and most of the region's powers other than Israel, disapproved of the referendum, which took place in the context of the ongoing fight against ISIL/Da'esh, and called for negotiations within the existing Iraqi borders. This briefing updates Regional implications of Iraqi Kurdistan's quest for independence, EPRS, December 2016.
Download or read book Kurdish Nationalism and the Potential Effects on U S Middle East Regional Politics written by Ghiath Naqishbandi and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 118 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The purpose of this study is to examine some key issues in the Kurdish situation, highlighting the ongoing debate on the issue of autonomy in their own nation-state of Kurdistan, and to point out hwy the US can no longer ignore the wishes of approximately 25 million people in formulating its plans for the future of the Middle East. The study ahs several related aims, the first, taking an historical perspective, is to provide an insight into the popular mentality and culture whereby the extent of allegiance to the concept of Kurdish national sovereignty may be objectively evaluated. The second aim of the thesis is to question the contemporary reality of the concept and examine the conflicts, political ideologies and the depth of common purpose within the various Kurdish nationalist movements. The third, using the example of the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Southern Kurdistan, is to attempt to determine whether Kurdish nationalist ideals can be successfully translated into a bona-fide political system of authority, political equanimity, economic freedom and social justice, in sufficient measure as to effectively govern an autonomous state in a 'Greater Kurdistan'. The fourth objective is to speculate on the effects that a renewed impetus for Kurdish independence will have on the relationship between the Kurdish and 'the West', and the possible implications for America's plans for democratic government of states in the Middle East." -- Intro.
Download or read book Towards an Independent Kurdistan Self Determination in International Law written by Loqman Radpey and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2023-12-05 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kurdistan is among the world’s most notorious cases of self-determination denied, and the reasons why this outcome remains unachieved reveal as much about the biases of international law as they do about the merits of the case for Kurdistan. On the centenary of the Treaty of Lausanne, 24 July 1923, the last of the international instruments establishing the new international order after World War I, this book explores the potential blind spots of international law regarding its differential application in the Middle East. Tracing self-determination over the past century, the work explores how the law applies to Kurdish aspirations and to what extent the Kurds can rely upon the current law of self-determination to achieve internationally recognised statehood. The book offers an exhaustive historico-legal analysis of changing international legal concepts and geopolitical upheaval, providing a blueprint for Kurdish selfdetermination in international law. Shedding light on the law’s structural biases, it represents a comprehensive historico-legal account of Kurdish aspirations for territorial independence within international law literature, offering a guide to relevant legal problems. It will be of interest to students and academics focused on international law, specifically, peoplehood, statehood, secession, human rights law, political science, and anthropology. Moreover, policymakers, government officials working in peace and conflict, research and advocacy institutes, think tanks, as well as scholars of international relations, historians, political scientists, regional specialists, diplomats, and non-governmental organisation activists will find it a useful reference. The book also illuminates the human rights status of the Kurds in their host states, making it relevant to scholars and activists. Its findings have implications extending beyond Kurdistan to self-determination struggles in Scotland, Catalonia, Ukraine, and elsewhere.
Download or read book The Kurds before a Regional Transformation written by Ferhad Ibrahim Seyder and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2020-02-18 with total page 167 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Kurdish independence movement is in retreat. Contributing factors for this withdrawal are the new outbreak of the Kurdish war in Turkey, the structural weakening of the autonomous region "Rojava" in Syria, proclaimed by the DUP, and the setbacks in Iraqi Kurdistan, caused by political and economic blockades. The Kurdish autonomy projects will be reduced to a minimum. The independence referendum in Iraq and the Iraqi and Shiite militias' military response are indicative of the reluctance of the Middle-Eastern ruling forces to accept political and ethnical pluralism. External actors as the USA, the EU and the UN, support the return of the "strong" state in order to support regional stability. Kurdish elites and their political organisations are facing a crisis of their own. The Kurdistan Workers' Party propagates postmodern concepts of a post-nation state in a region requiring stable political structures more than ever before. In Iraqi Kurdistan ongoing internal fighting between the main actors sets back Nation and State building processes by decades. All these factors are part of a phase of transition aiming at a new regional order, whose outlines can't be anticipated yet.
Download or read book Kurdistan Rising written by Michael Rubin and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 139 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Discussion about Kurdish independence both inside and outside Kurdistan too often remains limited to the moral argument: Do the Kurds deserve independence? This report discusses what an independent Kurdistan might mean for Kurds, the region, and the United States. It also considers what the partition of Turkey might mean for NATO. With the Kurds so close to fulfilling their aspirations, perhaps now is the time to move beyond emotion and polemic and start a real conversation in order to ensure that Kurdistan rising doesn’t become a train wreck.
Download or read book The Kurdish Quasi State written by Denise Natali and published by Syracuse University Press. This book was released on 2010-08-06 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite ongoing instability and underdevelopment in post-Saddam Iraq, some parts of the country have realized relative security and growth. The Kurdish north, once an isolated outpost for the Iraqi army and local militia, has become an internationally recognized autonomous region. In The Kurdish Quasi-State, Natali explains the nature of this transformation and how it has influenced the relationship between the Kurdistan region and Iraq’s central government. This much-needed scholarship focuses on foreign aid as helping to create and sustain the Kurdish quasi-state. It argues that the generous nature of external assistance to the Kurdistan region over time has given it new forms of legitimacy and leverage in the country. Since 2003 the Kurdistan region has gained representation in the central government and developed commercial, investment, and political ties with regional states and foreign governments. Drawing on extensive field research, Natali explores how this transition has had positive and unintended consequences on Kurdish—state relations. Greater complexity in the regional political economy has demanded new forms of compromise with the central government. The Kurdistan region may have become a distinct political entity that challenges Baghdad; however, the benefits of aid and logic of quasi-statehood ensure that it will remain part of Iraq. Acutely familiar with the nuances of Kurdish politics, society, and culture, Natali has produced a timely and immensely important book for policy makers, scholars, and practitioners interested in the region.
Download or read book Youth Identity Politics and Change in Contemporary Kurdistan written by Shivan Fazil and published by Transnational Press London. This book was released on 2021-09-01 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today’s youth are challenging the older political class around the world and are forming new political generations. Examples from South Africa and elsewhere where peace processes were deemed to be successful show signs of youth disapproval of the current post-conflict conditions. Moreover, the Arab Spring witnessed numerous youth movements emerge in authoritarian and illiberal contexts. This book was prepared in light of these discussions and aims to contribute to these ongoing debates on youth politics by presenting the situation of youth in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) as a case study. It will be the first book that specifically focuses on the Iraqi Kurdish youth and their political, social, and economic participation in Kurdistan. The contemporary history of the KRI is marked by conflict, war, and ethnic cleansing under Saddam Hussein and the tyranny of the Ba’ath regime, significantly affecting the political situation of the Kurds in the Middle East. Most of the recent academic literature has focused on the broader picture or, in other words, the macro politics of the Kurdish conundrum within Iraq and beyond. There is little scholarship about the Kurdish population and their socio-economic conditions after 2003, and almost none about the younger generation of Kurds who came of age during autonomous Kurdish rule. This is a generation that, unlike their forebears, has no direct memory of the decades-long campaigns of repression. Studying and examining the rise of this generation of Kurdish young millennials—“Generation 2000”—who came of age in the aftermath of the United States invasion of Iraq offers a unique approach to understand the dynamics in a region that underwent a substantial socio-political transformation after 2003 as well as the impact of these developments on the youth population. Pursuing different themes and lines of inquiry the contributors of the book analyze the challenges and opportunities for young men and women to fulfil their needs and desires, and contribute to the ongoing quest for nationhood and nation-building. "In this book, our aim is to bring together a variety of perspectives from local and foreign academics who have been working on pressing issues in Kurdistan and beyond. The chapters focus on an array of themes, particularly including political participation, political situation and change, religiosity, and extremism. ... Taken together, the chapters provide us with an introduction to youth politics in Kurdistan. This book is just the first attempt to open academic and nonacademic debate on this subject at a time when protests around youth-related issues are becoming a more prevalent method of political engagement in the region. Our hope is that more research follows and supplements what has not been addressed in this book, especially through the introduction of first-hand youth perspectives to the core of this analysis and giving them a voice in nonviolent platforms." CONTENTS Foreword: Youth in the Kurdistan Region and Their Past and Present Roles - Karwan Jamal Tahir Kurdish Youth as Agents of Change: Political Participation, Looming Challenges, and Future Predictions - Shivan Fazil and Bahar Baser CHAPTER 1. Youth Political Participation and Prospects for Democratic Reform in Iraqi Kurdistan - Munir H. Mohammad CHAPTER 2. Social Media, Youth Organization, and Public Order in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Megan Connelly CHAPTER 3. Constructing Their Own Liberation: Youth’s Reimagining of Gender and Queer Sexuality in Iraqi Kurdistan - Hawzhin Azeez CHAPTER 4. Kurdish Youth and Civic Culture: Support for Democracy Among Kurdish and non-Kurdish Youth in Iraq - Dastan Jasim CHAPTER 5. Youth and Nationalism in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Sofia Barbarani CHAPTER 6. An Elitist Interpretation of KRG Governance: How Self-Serving Kurdish Elites Govern Under the Guise of Democracy and the Subsequent Implications for Representation and Change - Bamo Nouri CHAPTER 7. Educational Policy in the Kurdistan Region: A Critical Democratic Response - Abdurrahman Ahmad Wahab CHAPTER 8. Making Heaven in a Shithole: Changing Political Engagement in the Aftermath of the Islamic State - Lana Askari CHAPTER 9. Kurdish Youth and Religious Identity: Between Religious and National Tensions - Ibrahim Sadiq CHAPTER 10. Youth Radicalization in Kurdistan: The Government Response - Kamaran Palani
Download or read book Perspectives on Kurdistan s Economy and Society in Transition written by Serwan M.J. Baban and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-16 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The second scientific World Kurdish Congress was held in October 2012 at Hewler with the theme of improving the quality of life, science and culture for progress in Kurdistan. The papers presented focused on various important aspects of culture, economy, education, health, industry and political science in Kurdistan. The objective of this conference was to create a network of academicians to exchange and develop knowledge and work together with the Kurdistan Regional Government on how to further enhance the progress within the Kurdish society. This volume is a collection of 26 studies presented at the Congress and includes an introduction by the editors and a summary report of the Congress. The topics presented here are diverse, covering several areas pertinent to the current Kurdish situation. The studies are divided into ten areas: namely, agriculture and rural development; diaspora; education and research; health and quality of life; industry; information technology and e-government; infrastructure and development; language; human rights; and politics. In the last part of the volume, the organization committee provides a compilation of recommendations from the Congress to the Kurdistan Regional Government.
Download or read book Out of Nowhere written by Michael Gunter and published by Hurst. This book was released on 2014-11-15 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In mid-2012 the previously almost forgotten Syrian Kurds suddenly emerged as a potential game-changer in the country's civil war when in an attempt to consolidate its increasingly desperate position the Assad government abruptly withdrew its troops from the major Kurdish areas in Syria. The Kurds in Syria had suddenly won autonomy, a situation that has huge implications for neighboring Turkey and the near independent Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. Indeed, their precipitous rise may prove a tipping-point that alters the boundaries imposed on the Middle East by the Sykes-Picot Agreement of 1916. These important events and what they portend for the future are scrutinized by the renowned scholar of the Kurds Michael Gunter. He also analyses the sudden rise of Salih Muslim and his Democratic Union Party (PYD) - which was created by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and remains affiliated to it - and the extremely complex and deadly fighting between factions of the Syrian Opposition affiliated with al-Qaeda such as the Jabhat al-Nusra jihadists and the PYD, among others.
Download or read book Kurdistan Achievable Reality or Political Mirage written by Carikci, Mariam Jooma and published by Afro-Middle East Centre. This book was released on 2018-06-14 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spread across a number of countries around the world, and concentrated in four Middle Eastern countries, Kurds have yearned for their own country for almost a century, but were forgotten when the region was carved up by the Sykes-Picot Agreement early in the twentieth century. Since then, the creation of a Kurdish state was high on the agenda of all Kurds. This was especially true when we consider the lot of Kurds in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. This book examines the political situation of Kurds in these four countries, looks at how this has changed-particularly in the past decade-and considers what the future might hold for the Kurdish people and for the notion of a state of Kurdistan. It asks the question of whether a Kurdish state is achievable, or, even, desirable. The book is written for policy makers and academics interested in the Middle East region and in Kurdish politics in particular. It is written in an accessible way that makes it easy reading for anyone curious about the region and its people.
Download or read book Secession and Conflict written by Zheger Hassan and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2023-02-15 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003 in Iraq opened the door for Kurdish nationalists to move toward outright independence. Despite the recent visibility of the Kurds in the international media, little is known about their political aspirations as citizens of an autonomous region. In Secession and Conflict Zheger Hassan employs a comparative analysis to explore why Iraqi Kurdistan, despite being better positioned institutionally and economically than the similar cases of South Sudan and Kosovo, has not declared independence. In rebuilding Iraq and fighting against the Islamic State, the Kurds have cultivated important political alliances with the US and Europe, which have garnered them international economic, military, and political support. Though now well-positioned to function as an independent state, Iraqi Kurdistan has vacillated in seizing this golden opportunity to declare independence. The apparent Kurdish willingness to forgo independence runs counter to the prevailing narratives about the Kurds in the Middle East. Hassan draws not only on the history of the Kurds but also on first-hand interviews with high-ranking officials, journalists, and nationalists to provide a new window into the calculations of Kurdish leaders as they navigate the complicated politics of Iraq. Secession and Conflict offers a new model for understanding the Kurdish question in Iraq.
Download or read book Federalism Secession and International Recognition Regime written by Alex Danilovich and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-10-10 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Federalism is widely believed to be an efficient tool to quell ethnic conflict, yet recently there has been a pronounced global tendency among ethnic minorities to break away from larger nations. Iraqi Kurdistan, a region within the newly established Iraqi federation, also harbors plans to proclaim its own sovereign state. This volume analyses the factors that have caused the Kurds to change their minds about living in a federal Iraq, and the reaction of their neighbors and the international community at large. Using a broad theoretical framework of federal studies and secession theory, this book examines the causes for the breakup of ethnic federations fuelled by nationalism as well as the international regime of recognition of newly formed entities. It provides a first-hand account and theoretically informed interpretations of the Iraqi situation, showing that federalism is not always a universal remedy for ethnic and religious conflicts; it also emphasizes that the international recognition regime is a significant variable in peoples’ actions and aspirations to sovereignty. Enriching the ongoing debate on federalism and self-determination, this volume will appeal to scholars and students of politics, international relations, and comparative politics, as well as those interested in federalism, the Middle East and Kurdistan.
Download or read book The Kurds written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2017-12-27 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading On September 29, 2017, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stated that the United States did not recognize the decision of the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum. "The vote and the results lack legitimacy and we continue to support a united, federal, democratic and prosperous Iraq." For all of the international community's efforts to support and provide safe haven to refugees as well as religious and ethnic minorities, it is the Kurdish people who have had a particularly difficult situation within this realm. Following skirmishes with the Iraqi government and international condemnation of the move, the Iraqi Kurds are not retracting the independence request at the moment. The Kurds lack a well-defined boundary - by international standards - and broach the lands of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. All of these neighboring countries have had a contentious relationship with the Kurdish people. The Kurds have different languages, different religious traditions, and different cultures. And much like the Jewish people and the Palestinians, they seek an independent homeland in which they have the right to self-determination. Due to the difficult political and military situation in the Fertile Crescent region of the Middle East, the Kurds have yet to successfully create their own nation with recognized borders. And it would not be an easy task; while the Kurds of the different countries in this region all collectively refer to themselves as "Kurds," there are many differences among these groups. Admitting that the Kurds deserve an independent state also means a loss in territory for Turkey, Syria, Iran, and Iraq which these countries heavily rely on for economic and strategic military reasons. The United States and its allies' refusal to recognize the Kurdish referendum appears to be based on the fact that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is still prominent in the region. They maintain that ISIS and other extremist groups look forward to instances of instability and a call for Kurdish independence would throw Iraq into even more turmoil. The U.K. Ambassador to Iraq stated that "now [was] not the right time" to hold the referendum. This begs the question of whether there ever will be a right time. This is the question that the Kurdish people have asked the international community throughout history. By delving deeper into their ethnic, religious, and political history, it is possible to understand the larger issues of statelessness and the striving for independence. At the same time, the relationships between the Kurds and the ruling regimes of the day have changed and altered the political landscape in the Middle East. The Kurds' relationship with European and American governments also led to a certain expectation that outside support would somehow usher in the creation or at least the support of the Kurdish state, yet that has not come to pass. Assessing the violent treatment of the Kurds by governments opposed to their independence will also illustrate the horrors and struggles of the Kurdish community over the years. All of this history culminates in the historic referendum in September 2017 and its implications for the region. The Kurds: The History of the Middle Eastern Ethnic Group and Their Quest for Kurdistan examines the group and the contentious issues surrounding them. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Kurds like never before.
Download or read book The Kurds of Iraq written by Mahir A. Aziz and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-30 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over ninety years since their absorption into the modern Iraqi state, the Kurdish people of Iraq still remain an apparent anomaly in the modern world - a nation without a state. In 'The Kurds of Iraq', Mahir Aziz explores this incongruity, and asks the pertinent questions, who are the Kurds today? What is their relationship to the Iraqi state? How do they perceive themselves and their prospective political future? And in what way are they crucial for the stability of the Iraqi state? In the wake of the Gulf War of 1991 in the face of the Iraqi state, the Kurds endeavoured to create a de facto state and to concretise and stabilise the institutions that would enable this. 'The Kurds of Iraq' thus examines the creation, evolution and development of Kurdish nationalism despite the suppression of its political and cultural manifestations. Through extensive interviews in the field, Aziz assesses the impact of recent history on the complex process of identity formation amongst Kurdish students at three of the nation's leading universities. He provides an in depth examination of students' socio-economic backgrounds, and their thoughts on and experiences of what it means to be Kurdish in the modern Iraqi state, and the impact this has on their perception of their language, culture and religion. Aziz's invaluable and extensive field research furthermore serves as a point of departure for an investigation into the relationship between national identity and historical memory in Iraqi Kurdistan and beyond. He thus analyses wider issues of the intersection and interdependency of national, regional, ethnic, tribal and local identities. He thus constructs an intimate portrait of the Kurds of Iraq, which will provide an important insight for students and researchers of the Middle East and for those interested the important issues of nationalism and ethnic identity in the modern nation state, and the impact these issues have on the stability of Iraq itself.
Download or read book Social Media and Democratization in Iraqi Kurdistan written by Munir Mohammad and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book assesses the implications of increased use of social media platforms for democratization in a hybrid political system such as Iraqi Kurdistan. It finds that using social media has increased online political participation and political communication, but without a positive effect on the democratization process.
Download or read book The Kurds written by Jamal Jalal Abdulla and published by AuthorHouse. This book was released on 2012-02-07 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is about the history and national movement and nationalism of the Kurdish nation who were divided by the victorious Allied Powers, Britain and France, in the first World War 1918. The Kurds and their country, Kurdistan were divided between Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. For about one century, Kurds have not earned their cultural and political rights. However, only Kurds in Iraq obtained their 'Autonomous Right'. Recently Oil was discovered and the Kurdish Regional Government began to drill and export oil. Now a number of European companies are working in Kurdistan and the Kurdish government demand the oil-rich city, Kirkuk be included in the Kurdish Autonomous region. Since oil was found, produced and exported, more than eleven European and Asian consulates are opened in Arbil, the capital city of the Kurdish region. The great interest the European and American oil companies and politicians have in the Kurdish region, it not unlikely that the business and political interests would push the Kurdish leaders to ask for confederate status or independence in the not very distant future.
