The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq appraises the consequences of the U.S.-led intervention in Iraq for its most neglected region.

The name “Kurdistan” has a long and curious history but it did not become politicized or contentious until the 20th century, particularly after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of new states that incorporated Kurdistan – understood as the “land of the Kurds” – in their new borders. Today the term has received renewed attention as it no longer just signifies an innocuous geographical term or a nationalist dream; it is the name of the political entity in northern Iraq that has many features of statehood but is not, in fact, a state. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is a curious entity indeed; it looks like a state, it acts like a state, but it is not certified as a state through international recognition. The KRI’s current “state capacity” has been the result of a determined state-building project that began nearly two decades ago, and yet it remains somewhere between state and statelessness. Is it in the process of forging an alternative kind of polity? This question has consumed not only the governments of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria – the four main states who house most of the 30 million Kurds who refer to themselves as “a nation without a state” – but also the wider world. The obvious questions that loom large in the minds of many are: what do the Kurds want? What are they really building in northern Iraq? What would an independent Kurdistan look like? Is independence what Kurds seek? If Iraqi Kurdistan seceded from Iraq, what would this mean for Kurds outside of its borders? What would happen to the rest of Iraq? These are certainly pressing questions and there have been many insightful responses in recent years. However, more interesting is how the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is working to sell its very unique state-building project to the rest of the world in its bid to gain international recognition of and support for its venture. This paper analyses the KRG’s marketing campaign, waged not only through the usual diplomatic (or para-diplomatic) channels, but also via the Internet and through its novel development of what can only be described as “nationalist infomercials.” This performative aspect of state-building (literally acting out the state in an attempt to sell sovereignty) may represent both old and new chapters in the history of nationalist movements, but ones that have not yet been adequately theorized. This paper examines the question of a potential Kurdistan through a new lens of analysis that explores not simply the cold, hard struggle for sovereignty, but the softer “para-diplomatic” performances acting as the creative energies that market these struggles to the international community.

The Kurds in Iraq by Kerim Yildiz, explores the key issues facing the Kurds in Iraq in the aftermath of the US-led invasion and chaos of the occupation. It is the most clear and up-to-date account of the problems that all political groups face in rebuilding the country, as well as exploring Kurdish links and international relations in the broader sense. It should be required reading for policy-makers and anyone interested in the current position of the Kurds in Iraq. Yildiz explores the impact of war and occupation on Iraqi Kurdistan, and in particular the crucial role of the city of Kirkuk in the post-war settlement. He also looks at how UN rifts potentially affect the Kurds; relations between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey; relations with Iran; and US policy towards the Kurds.

A decade after the 9/11 attacks, this groundbreaking book takes readers deep into rebellions against both autocrats and extremists that are redefining politics, culture, and security threats across the Islamic world. The awakening involves hundreds of millions of people. And the political transformations— and tectonic changes—are only beginning. Robin Wright, an acclaimed foreign correspondent and television commentator, has covered the region for four decades. She witnessed the full cycle, from extremism’s angry birth and globalization to the rise of new movements transforming the last bloc of countries to hold out against democracy. Now, in Rock the Casbah, she chronicles the new order being shaped by youthinspired revolts toppling leaders, clerics repudiating al Qaeda, playwrights and poets crafting messages of a counter-jihad, comedians ridiculing militancy, hip-hop rapping against guns and bombs, and women mobilizing for their own rights. This new counter-jihad has many goals. For some, it’s about reforming the faith. For others, it’s about reforming political systems. For most, it’s about achieving basic rights. The common denominator is the rejection of venomous ideologies and suicide bombs, plane hijackings, hostage-takings, and mass violence to achieve those ends. Wright captures a stunning moment in history, one of the region’s four key junctures—along with Iran’s revolution, Israel’s creation, and the Ottoman Empire’s collapse—in a century. The notion of a clash of civilizations is increasingly being replaced by a commonality of civilizations in the twenty-first century. But she candidly details both the possibilities and pitfalls ahead. The new counter-jihad is imaginative and defiant, but Muslim societies are also politically inexperienced and economically challenged.

The Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed de facto statehood in the north of Iraq for over a decade but Intra-Kurdish fighting, military incursions by Turkey and Iran and the constant threat posed by Saddam Hussein have plagued this 'democratic experiment'. In this book, Stansfield explores the development of the Kurdish political system since 1991. He examines the difficult and often violent relations between the two dominant powers, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and their relationship with the Kurdish Regional Government in order to understand the current state of Iraqi Kurdish politics and the operation of the state. This topical in-depth study identifies the main dynamics of Iraqi Kurdish politics, analyzes the record and potential of the 'Kurdish democratic experiment', and identifies the present and future Kurdish leaders.

Kurdistan has a long and turbulent history. Today, it faces a future branching in directions that could lead it towards success or disaster, freedom or renewed oppression. It could lead the region to the point where it might finally be able to provide an independent homeland for the Kurds, forming a nation state in its own right rather than the autonomous region of Iraq that it currently is.How did Kurdistan get into that position, and what will be required to bring about independence? What factors will need to come together for the project to work, and what threats will the newly formed country face? This book discusses the current situation in Kurdistan, the impact of the conflict in the wider region, and the likely steps required for Kurdistan to achieve independence. It explores issues of economics, culture and security essential to Kurdistan's future, as well as what it can do to overcome potential sources of opposition to the change.Kurdistan potentially has a very bright future as an independent nation. This book aims to show how it can achieve it.