Global Scripts and Minority Rights in the Middle East: The Case of the Kurds

• In Event: 130 - Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. Race and Ethnicity Beyond the United States

Abstract

Using the case of the Kurds, the paper examines the status of minority rights in the Middle East. In particular, it examines the impact of the international context (human rights principles, norms, and international treaties and other institutional frameworks). Kurdish nationalistic aspirations and the durability and perseverance of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination present a puzzle: Kurds have always been divided between several different nations and there has never been an independent Kurdistan. I will analyze Kurdish nationalism in light of the developments in the Middle East in the past decade with particular attention to the U.S.-led war in Iraq and other events of the past few years.

Author

• Katarzyna Polanska, American Public University System