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While dramatic changes taking place in the Middle East offer
important opportunities to the Kurdish century-long struggle for
recognition, serious obstacles seem to keep reemerging every time
the Kurds anywhere make progress. The large Kurdish geography,
extending from western Iran to near the eastern Mediterranean, and
a century of repression and denial have engendered various Kurdish
groups with competing and at times conflicting views and goals. The
Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics, with
an emphasis on continuity and change in the Kurdish Question,
brings together a group of well-known scholars to shed light on
this complex issue.
The euphoria and promise that accompanied the Arab Spring has been
replaced with a business-as-usual tone in the MENA. Revolutionary
shifts in political and religious power have been tempered and, in
some cases, reversed. Observers should not be surprised at these
outcomes, but skeptics would be advised to remain attentive to
regional factors that continue to present potentials for reform.
This volume examines a variety of such factors as mediators of MENA
political reform, including: Islam, political party and government
relations, regime type, elite influence, and Internet access. By
providing both a broad review of the relevant literatures and a
flexible assessment of the region's political prospects in the
post-Spring period, the volume leverages insights from a series of
regional experts and political analysts to offer a useful
contribution to the continuing work of reform by MENA scholars,
policymakers, and the general public.
While dramatic changes taking place in the Middle East offer
important opportunities to the Kurdish century-long struggle for
recognition, serious obstacles seem to keep reemerging every time
the Kurds anywhere make progress. The large Kurdish geography,
extending from western Iran to near the eastern Mediterranean, and
a century of repression and denial have engendered various Kurdish
groups with competing and at times conflicting views and goals. The
Kurds in the Middle East: Enduring Problems and New Dynamics, with
an emphasis on continuity and change in the Kurdish Question,
brings together a group of well-known scholars to shed light on
this complex issue.
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-a-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.
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-a-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.
Anatomy of a Civil War demonstrates the destructive nature of war,
ranging from the physical to the psychosocial, as well as war's
detrimental effects on the environment. Despite such horrific
aspects, evidence suggests that civil war is likely to generate
multilayered outcomes. To examine the transformative aspects of
civil war, Mehmet Gurses draws on an original survey conducted in
Turkey, where a Kurdish armed group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK), has been waging an intermittent insurgency for Kurdish
self-rule since 1984. Findings from a probability sample of 2,100
individuals randomly selected from three major Kurdish-populated
provinces in the eastern part of Turkey, coupled with insights from
face-to-face in-depth interviews with dozens of individuals
affected by violence, provide evidence for the multifaceted nature
of exposure to violence during civil war. Just as the destructive
nature of war manifests itself in various forms and shapes, wartime
experiences can engender positive attitudes toward women, create a
culture of political activism, and develop secular values at the
individual level. In addition, wartime experiences seem to robustly
predict greater support for political activism. Nonetheless,
changes in gender relations and the rise of a secular political
culture appear to be primarily shaped by wartime experiences
interacting with insurgent ideology.
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