Conflict, Democratization, and the Kurds in the Middle East: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria

In Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, central governments historically pursued mono-nationalist ideologies and repressed Kurdish identity. As evidenced by much unrest and a great many Kurdish revolts in all these states since the 1920s, however, the Kurds manifested strong resistance towards ethnic chauvinism. What sorts of authoritarian state policies have Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria relied on to contain the Kurds over the years? Can meaningful democratization and liberalization in any of these states occur without a fundamental change vis-à-vis their Kurdish minorities? To what extent does the Kurdish issue function as both a barrier and key to democratization in four of the most important states of the Middle East? While many commentators on the Middle East stress the importance of resolving the Arab-Israeli dispute for achieving 'peace in the Middle East, ' this book asks whether or not the often overlooked Kurdish issue may constitute a more important fulcrum for change in the region, especially in light of the 'Arab Spring' and recent changes in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Author: David Romano,Mehmet Gurses
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 08/13/2014
Pages: 322
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.86lbs
Size: 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781349488872

About the Author
David Romano, Missouri State University, USA Mehmet Gurses, Florida Atlantic University, USA Ofra Bengio, Tel Aviv University, Israel John A. Booth, University of North Texas, USA Nader Entessar, University of South Alabama, USA Michael M. Gunter. Tennessee Technological University, USA Robert Lowe, London School of Economics, UK David T. Mason, Castleberry Peace Institute, USA Eva Savelsberg, European Center for Kurdish Studies (ECKS), Germany Gareth Stansfield, University of Exeter, UK Güne? Murat Tezcür, Loyola University Chicago, USA Nicole F. Watts, San Francisco State Universitym, USA Ozum Yesiltas, Florida International University, USA