The Kurdish people have begun to establish themselves as a political force. Their situation illuminates the burning question of the Middle East: how do ethnicity and self-determination interact? Bringing together several disciplines, including history, anthropology, sociology, politics, and linguistics, the contributors here consider the factors that make the case of the Kurds so critical. Examples are drawn from the modern histories of Iraq, Turkey, and Iran.

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless nations in the world, numbering more than 20 million people. Their homeland lies mostly within the present-day borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as parts of Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Yet until recently the 'Kurdish question' - that is, the question of Kurdish self-determination - seemed, to many observers, dormant. It was only after the so-called Arab Spring, and with the rise of the Islamic State, that they emerged at the centre of Middle East politics. But what is the future of the Kurdish national movement? How do the Kurds themselves understand their community and quest for political representation? This book analyses the major problems, challenges and opportunities currently facing the Kurds. Of particular significance, this book shows, is the new Kurdish society that is evolving in the context of a transforming Middle East. This is made of diverse communities from across the region who represent very different historical, linguistic, political, social and cultural backgrounds that are yet to be understood. This book examines the recent shifts and changes within Kurdish societies and their host countries, and argues that the Kurdish national movement requires institutional and constitutional recognition of pluralism and diversity. Featuring contributions from world-leading experts on Kurdish politics, this timely book combines empirical case studies with cutting-edge theory to shed new light on the Kurds of the 21st century.

The chain of developments unleashed by Gorbachev's perestroika, glasnost and 'new political thinking' culminated in the disintegration of what had hitherto been known in Marxist jargon as the socialist camp or the world of existing socialism. For the Arab radicals, there was the loss of a superpower ally on whose military, economic and political patronage they could count. The demise of the Soviet Union has left a sense of desperation and angst among the new generation of Arab Marxist activists, leaders and intellectuals. The Marxists who have come out of this process are very different from what they had been before it started. Various trends are now in the making. This book attempts to describe and trace the theoretical issues and endeavours which have influenced and shaped this rethinking. The chapters are structured around several major, interconnected themes: an examination of the theoretical, political and organizational responses evident so far among the Marxists in the Arab world. Most chapters have an explicit or implicit comparative outlook that reveals to what extent Marxism in the Arab world has common inherited features with, or divergent perspectives from, its European counterpart.

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless nations in the world, numbering more than 20 million people. Their homeland lies mostly within the present-day borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as parts of Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Yet until recently the 'Kurdish question' - that is, the question of Kurdish self-determination - seemed, to many observers, dormant. It was only after the so-called Arab Spring, and with the rise of the Islamic State, that they emerged at the centre of Middle East politics. But what is the future of the Kurdish national movement? How do the Kurds themselves understand their community and quest for political representation? This book analyses the major problems, challenges and opportunities currently facing the Kurds. Of particular significance, this book shows, is the new Kurdish society that is evolving in the context of a transforming Middle East. This is made of diverse communities from across the region who represent very different historical, linguistic, political, social and cultural backgrounds that are yet to be understood. This book examines the recent shifts and changes within Kurdish societies and their host countries, and argues that the Kurdish national movement requires institutional and constitutional recognition of pluralism and diversity. Featuring contributions from world-leading experts on Kurdish politics, this timely book combines empirical case studies with cutting-edge theory to shed new light on the Kurds of the 21st century.