The Kurdish Question in Iraq (Contemporary Issues in the Middle East)

by Edmund Ghareeb




Ghareeb reports that Iraqi politicians, at least since Nuri al-Sa`id, repeatedly voiced concern that foreign powers might “exploit the Kurdish problem for their own interests,” and that it was such considerations that persuaded the Ba`th party from 1968 onwards to seek accommodation with the Kurds rather than repress the uprising. Party documents of 1969 still speak of Kurdish nationalism as a progressive force of liberation, which is part of the global struggle against all forms of oppression and a natural ally of Arab nationalism. Soon after the peace agreement, however, Barzani obtained promises of covert US support, the Mossad was training his intelligence service, and Iranian arms were flowing into northern Iraq.

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The Kurdish Nationalist Movement: Opportunity, Mobilization and Identity

by David Romano



David Romano focuses on the Kurdish case to generally try and make sense of ethnic nationalist resurgence. In a world rent by a growing number of such conflicts, the questions posed about why, how and when such challenges to the state arise are becoming increasingly urgent. Throughout the author analyzes these questions through the lens of social movement theory, considering in particular politico-social structures, resource mobilization strategies and cultural identity. His conclusions offer some thought-provoking insights into Kurdish nationalism, as well as into the strengths and weaknesses of various social movement theories.

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The Unwelcome Neighbour: Turkey's Kurdish Policy (Culture and Society in Western and Central Asia)

by Asa Lundgren



Asa Lundgren explores Turkish policy towards northern Iraq from the beginning of the 1990s to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and draws important conclusions about the relation between nation-building and foreign policy. The author argues that there is a crucial interplay between the protection of state borders, foreign policy practice and the construction of national identity. Turkey's policy towards northern Iraq during the last decade can be described as a balancing act where the integrity of the Turkish-Iraqi border was firmly defended by Ankara, while at the same time it was consistently violated through Turkish military incursions against a perceived Kurdish threat and by the permanent military presence of the Turkish army on Iraqi territory. The paradoxes of Turkey's policy can only be understood in the light of an ongoing struggle over the definition of Turkish national identity. The author's highly original proposition is that Ankara's policy opposition to all attempts to break up Iraq along ethnic lines was a mirror image of a concern with the unity of the Turkish nation state.

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The Kurds of Asia

by Anthony C. Lobaido (Author), Yumi Ng (Author), Paul Rozario (Author)




"simple book"

The Kurds In Iraq: The Past, Present and Future

by Kerim Yildiz (Author), Tom Blass (Author)



This book explores the issues facing the Kurdish population of Iraq in the aftermath of the war and the ongoing occupation. Written by a leading human rights campaigner and a journalist, it is the most clear and up-to-date account of what Iraqi Kurds want, and the problems that all political groups face in re-building 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 Kurds in Iraq.

Today there are an estimated 4.2 million Kurds in Iraq -- nearly a quarter of the country's population. The majority are Sunni Muslims. For a long time Iraqi Kurds have desired an independent Kurdistan -- a desire shared by Kurds in Turkey, Iran and Syria. However, for the moment, the most pressing issue is to maintain the autonomy afforded by Iraqi Kurdistan since the establishment of the no-fly zone. The book explores the rift in the UN and how it potentially affects the Kurds; the necessity of avoiding a humanitarian crisis; divisions between the two Iraqi Kurdish political parties; relations between Iraqi Kurds and Turkey; relations with Iran; US policy towards the Kurds; and the crucial role of the city of Kirkuk in the post-war settlement of Iraq.

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The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq

by Brendan O'Leary (Author), John McGarry (Author)



"This is the first detailed scholarly study of the kind of federation that would best serve the interests of the Kurds and the other peoples of Iraq--Arabs, Turkomans, and Chaldean Assyrians. Highly recommended."--Choice "Adds up to a strong pitch for a viable Kurdistan within an Iraq federal state--or even an independent Kurdistan if the several contending forces in Iraq will not accept federalism. Much has happened since mid-2004 when this book went to press [but] the analysis and prescription presented here remain relevant."--Foreign Affairs "This collection of essays is a core resource for anyone with a serious interest in Iraq and the U.S. military... A good representation of the major issues confronting Kurdistan, Iraq, and their neighbors as of spring 2004. I learned even where I disagreed."--Publius: The Journal of Federalism "When more than one hundred London-based diplomats, politicians, journalists, and international affairs analysts turn out for a discussion of a book, one knows that the book is timely and has something to say about pressing current international affairs and about its topic's potential for impacting regional and international geopolitical alignments. This is what happened on 31 May 2005 at Chatham House, a British think tank associated closely with the United Kingdom's Foreign Ministry. The book discussed was The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq, edited by Brendan O'Leary, John McGarry, and Khaled Salih. The Future of Kurdistan in Iraq well deserves the prestigious turnout it produced."--Mediterranean Quarterly "An outstanding collection which illustrates the virtue of academic engagement with current predicaments."--Times Higher Education Supplement

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Hell Is Over: Voices of the Kurds after Saddam

by Mike Tucker



As counterfactual as it may seem to claim that "hell is over" anywhere in Iraq, Tucker makes the case for the Kurds. Drawing on interviews with peshmergafighters, Saddam-era political prisoners and survivors, Kurdish politicians and others who celebrate the overthrow of a Ba'athist regime that was particularly murderous toward Iraqi Kurds, Tucker gives his subjects space to tell of massacres at places like Hatra and of armed resistance to—and daily hardship under—Ba'athist repression. Tucker's Kurds express deep thanks to America for ousting Saddam, but also recall betrayal—"Kissinger's betrayal" in 1975 and that of George H.W. Bush in 1991—when the U.S. found it expedient to allow Iraq a free hand to crush Kurdish resistance. "The Kurds are looking for U.S. actions... which prove that America's honor is real," he writes, and for Tucker, a former Marine, "honor" and other aspects of warrior culture trump messier geopolitical considerations; he is convinced that the key to U.S. success in Iraq lies in recognition of "Kurdish integrity, honor and culture," along with close military and political cooperation with Iraqi Kurds. As a record of oppression, this book will find a place among emerging Saddam-era testimonies, but its bald political advocacy offers little that's unfamiliar.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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