| Summary/Abstract |
The Kurds hold a crucial role in the War on Terror, the Syrian Civil War, Iraq’s future, ongoing dissent in Iran, and Iran’s aspirations to establish a continuous range of influence spanning Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Numbering some 35 million spread across Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran, the Kurds comprise the largest nation without a state. On September 25, 2017, the semiautonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRG) held a highly contentious independence referendum, the fallout of which defines their future one year later. This is an analysis of those events from several vantage points on the ground, of the actors and decision-makers involved, and of what their future may hold.
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