Kurdish Politics in the Middle East
By (author) Nader Entessar Professor Emeritus, University of South Alabama
Publication date:
05 November 2009Length of book:
276 pagesPublisher
Lexington BooksDimensions:
242x162mm6x10"
ISBN-13: 9780739140390
Kurdish Politics in the Middle East analyzes political and social dimensions of Kurdish integration into the mainstream socio-political life in Iran, Iraq, and Turkey. Its central thesis is that ethnic conflict constitutes a major challenge to the contemporary nation-state system in the Middle East. Long vanquished is the illusion of the "melting pot," or the concept that assimilation is an inexorable process produced by "modernization" and the emergence of a relatively strong and centralized nation-state system in the region. Perhaps no single phenomenon highlights this thesis more than the historical Kurdish struggle for self-determination. This book's focus is on Kurdish politics and its relationship with broader regional and global developments that affect the Kurds. It does not claim to cover everything Kurdish, and it does not promote the political agenda of any group, movement, or country.
Nader Entessar is an internationally recognized analyst of Middle East politics and a trailblazer in establishing Kurdish studies as an integral part of Middle East studies, especially the development of Kurdish nationalism during the twentieth century. He sustains this reputation in this revised and greatly expanded edition of Kurdish Ethnonationalism, adding important new analyses of the significant impact of the Kurdish nationalist movements on Middle East politics since the 1999 Gulf War and, especially, since the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq in March 2003. Entessar's analytical acumen and insights are important for scholars, area specialists, think-tank analysts, diplomats, military and intelligent experts and decision makers—a must read.