Iraqi Kurds
The dream of nation state
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3894355 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jihan A Mohammed (0000-0002-5860-6975, Department of Sociology Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan USA, corresponding author), Abdullah F Alrebh (0000-0001-8765-7598, Sociology Department Grand Valley State University Allendale MI USA) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 215-229 |
| Publication date | 2020-11-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Digest of Middle East Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1060-4367 • E-ISSN: 1949-3606 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/dome.12216 |
| OpenAlex | W3093757921 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 32 |
The purpose of this article is to analyze why the 2017 Kurdish independence referendum failed. We aim to do that by analyzing the multilevel factors that we argue worked dialectically to block Iraqi Kurds' state-building project. On the Kurdish level, we argue that the Kurdish political and economic spheres are built on partisan bonds and loyalties at the expense of collective and national interest, thus, Iraqi Kurds lack a unified vision, ideology, and central leadership for how to achieve independence. Politically, Kurdish parties disagreed on the timing and the legality of the referendum. Economically, the Kurdish leadership has been unsuccessful in establishing a sustainable political economy able to endure the sanctions imposed on the Iraqi Kurdistan Region (IKR) as a reaction to the 2017 referendum. On the regional level, we argue that the Middle Eastern states are prone to ally with the Kurds and build economic and political relations with them as far as the Kurds remain a minority within Iraq. We discuss how Iraq, Turkey, and Iran took immediate and serious measures against the 2017 referendum, thus, shacking the status quo of IKR. Finally, on the international level, we argue that the international community have historically resisted the secession of the Kurds from Iraq. Thus, in 2017 they sustained, yet again, that the territorial integrity of Iraq should be preserved
Development economics · Economics · Legitimacy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Principle of legality · Referendum · Secession · Sociology · Sovereignty · Territorial integrity · Law · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics · Turkey's Politics and Society
The ethnic origins of nations
On the independence referendum in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and disputed territories in 2017
Governing Kurdistan
Foreign Support, Miscalculation, and Conflict Escalation
Strategies to Gain International Recognition
The paradox of the Iraqi Kurdish referendum on independence
The Kurds and Their “Others”
In Response to Persecution
Iraqi Kurdistan
The development of Kurdistan’s de facto statehood
The spoils of peace in Iraqi Kurdistan
Independence referendums and nationalist rhetoric
Southern Kurdistan under Britain's Mesopotamian Mandate
The Para-Diplomacy of the Kurdistan Region in Iraq and the Kurdish Statehood Enterprise
October 1940
Kurdish Nationalism
Secessionist minorities and external involvement
Sectarianization
Alliance patterns of a secessionist movement
From British mandate to post Anglo-American invasion
Iraqi Kurdistan's 2017 Independence Referendum
Kurdistan's Referendum
| Citations per year | 0.6 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2023 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |