NIMEP INSIGHTS: Volume VI, Fall 2011

Welcome to the sixth edition of NIMEP Insights. Now in its sixth year, the New Initiative for Middle East Peace continues on its mission to adapt to the changing nature of world events, as well as the needs of its members and the broader community, in order to face the challenges presented by the 21st century. Every year, NIMEP publishes this journal of student-written academic articles in order to add to the constantly evolving dialogue that seeks to promote peace in the most tumultuous region on Earth. This edition contains articles written by a diverse student group; authors come from all four years of undergraduate education at Tufts University and from different majors as well.

 

To reach any of the students below, please e-mail TuftsNIMEP@gmail.com.

Dedication: Dedicated to Shahla Al-Kli: Without Shahla’s steadfast dedication to her mission of breathing new life to Iraqi Kurdistan and its people, this trip would have never taken place. Without her tireless planning and meticulous organizational skills, we would have surely stumbled into Kurdistan deaf, blind and mute... more

Acknowledgements: This historic trip to Iraqi Kurdistan would not have been possible without the support of a number of individuals. We are eternally grateful to the Kurdistan Regional Government, and particularly Speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament Dr. Kamal Kirkuki... more

Introduction: Sherman Teichman, Director, Tufts Institute for Global Leadership
Since the very inception of the Educational for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) program – the foundation program of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University – Iraq and in specific, Iraqi Kurdistan, have been areas of great concern... more

Section I—A State Within A State: Erbil-Baghdad Relations

Oil and Political Authority: An Analysis of Relations between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional
Government
Amit Paz, International Relations and Political Science ‘11
The transition to a federal, democratic Iraq has not been an easy one. Disempowered populations in Iraq have been positioning themselves politically ever since the American invasion in 2003. Iraqi Kurds are a symbol of this newfound political power in Iraq. The Iraqi Constitution, signed into law in 2005, recognizes the federal nature of the democratic Iraqi republic by legally authorizing the political autonomy of the Kurdistan Region and its government... more

Iraqoncilable Differences? The Political Nature of the Peshmerga
Jacqueline Devigne, International Relations and French ‘11
Since Iraq’s current borders were drawn in the aftermath of World War I, the Kurdish population of this predominately Arab country has consistently endured violent conflict. The Kurdish armed forces, known as the peshmerga (literally: “those who face death”), are engrained in Iraqi Kurdistan’s past and will likely be an integral part of its future as well. This paper seeks to document how the peshmerga have evolved and what this indicates about the prospects for a long-lasting peace in northern Iraq... more

An Ethnic Tug of War? The Struggle Over the Status of Kirkuk
Patricia Letayf, International Relations ‘11
In post-war Iraq, sectarian divides continue to plague Iraqi society. With a diverse population of Shia, Sunni, Turkmen, Kurds and various Christian groups, reaching a consensus that satisfies all groups is often difficult. And for the Kurds in the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan who have achieved a greater degree of independence from the central government, the agenda of Baghdad... more

Photo Essay: A Glimpse of Kirkuk
Ian MacLellan, Geology ‘12
 

Section II— Foreign Policy of the Krg: Engaging Old Neighbors

Revere and Adhere: Examining the Legality of Kurdistani Diplomatic Engagement
Patrick Doherty, International Relations and History ‘11
Such lightheartedness is more than understandable for Qubad Talabani. Raised in England by his grandparents while his father, former resistance leader and current President of Iraq Jalal Talabani, spent decades commanding armed Kurdish peshmerga in the mountainous northern reaches of Mesopotamia, Qubad knows all too well the difficulties the Kurds have faced at the hands of Baghdad-based central government... more

Erasing the Frontier: Turkey’s Trade and Investment in Iraqi Kurdistan
Khaled Al-Sharikh, International Relations and Economics ‘11
Eighty percent of food and clothes in Iraqi Kurdistan come from Turkey. The volume of trade between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan stands between $6 billionii and $9 billioniii, and the Turkish government is looking to expand this to over $20 billion within the next five years.iv Sixty percent of firms registered in Iraqi Kurdistan are Turkish, with Turkish company assets worth more than $620 million.v Turkish energy companies such as Pet-Oil and Genel Enerji... more

“The Border Does Not Exist: Solving the Puzzle of Kurdish-Iranian Relations
Mark Rafferty, International Relations and Arabic ‘13
Three hundred and eighty-six kilometers of mountains separate the Autonomous Region of Kurdistan from Iran, but however rugged the terrain, it has never impeded a steady two-way flow of trade goods, cash, refugees, migrants and armed insurgents. During the last century of Iraqi Kurdish resistance to centralized Iraqi rule, Iran alternately played the role of friend to Erbil and to Baghdad... more

Photo Essay: Kurdistan’s Armed Forces
Ian MacLellan, Geology ‘12

Section III—Social Policies of the Krg: Women and Healthcare 

Health and Democracy in Iraqi Kurdistan
Rajesh Reddy, Political Science ‘12
Post-Saddam Erbil is a panorama of development, with the number of hotels, consulates and hospitals rising at rapid rates. Since the new millennium, Kurdistan has embarked on an ambitious development program, expanding services and trade networks, while also establishing relations across the globe. Despite this growth, the country has seen periods of unrest just as recently as this year... more

The Fertile Crescent Unveiled: Analyzing the State of Gender Politics in Iraqi Kurdistan
Afsheen Sharifzadeh, Middle Eastern Studies ‘13
This paper explores the current state of women’s rights and gender politics in Iraqi Kurdistan and gauge its success in the backdrop of the projected goal of democracy. In doing so, it shows that the successes on the women’s rights front in Iraqi Kurdistan vis-à-vis Baghdad are due to an underlying cultural divide between the Kurdish and Iraqi Arab identity, and that the Kurdish Regional Government’s penchant... more

Like Sun and Water: How Women Hold the Keys to Kurdistan’s Future
Kathryn Olson, International Relations and Economics ‘13
Iraqi Kurdistan is a region overflowing with high expectations. With the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq and the subsequent dethroning of Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime, the Kurds’ largest security threat was eliminated. Since then, Iraq’s Kurds have been eager to prove to the world their national potential, and on many fronts they have succeeded. The U.S.–led Operation Provide Comfort, which created a safe haven that protected the Kurds from the wrath... more

Photo Essay: Everyday Lives in Kurdistan
Ian MacLellan, Geology ‘12