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ID:
142153
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| Summary/Abstract |
The pieces in this special section discuss the wider oil and gas politics of the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI, also known as the Kurdistan Regional Government, KRG). This debate has two distinct components: the internal dangers faced by an autonomous region almost exclusively relying on hydrocarbon revenues, and the geopolitical power struggles in the Middle East. Especially when held within the KRI, both themes form part of the discourse on hydrocarbon-enabled independence. Referring to international examples as well as the current regional geopolitical and security situation, these articles will outline the dangers and challenges of a hydrocarbon-induced Kurdish independence. While the authors are international experts in their fields, this collection of essays is compiled from within the KRI and is the output of an academic process initiated by Soran University in early 2014.
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| 2 |
ID:
143108
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article suggests a combination of military, political, and diplomatic approaches for Western states to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). In Syria, support should be strengthened for the only effective moderate force fighting against ISIS: the Kurdish militias. In Iraq, where ISIS relies on local partners from Sunni Arab tribes to help govern, it is incumbent on the West to break this coalition in order to hamper ISIS's military operations and weaken its governing capacity.
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| 3 |
ID:
142155
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| Summary/Abstract |
Historically the role of the Kurds and Kurdish parties in Syria has been shaped by the Syrian government's regional power politics. Within Syria, the status of the Kurdish population ranges from being tolerated to being actively oppressed. At the same time, the Syrian government used the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a proxy to wage war in response to Turkey's “water-dam politics” that left Syria vulnerable to droughts. Within this complicated and ever-changing power landscape, the Kurds and the PKK had to adapt their aims and strategies.1 However, with the loosening grip of the Assad regime in 2011, the situation changed, and Syria's Kurds were able to take control of the Kurdish-majority areas. In particular, parties affiliated with the PKK were able to make the most of the situation. In late 2014, the Kurdish-controlled areas, with the exception of the besieged town of Kobane, are some of the few parts of Syria that show relative stability.2 Apart from being an effective force against the jihadists of the Islamic State (IS), the Kurdish-led autonomous government is also the only one offering a political alternative to the repressive Assad regime and the violent Islamic State.
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