Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Abstract

Trans-state ethnic and religious identity groups enable the emergence of hybrid terrorist and criminal networks that pose grave security threats. Identity-based networks provide the basis for militant organizations that use violent strategies for political objectives. To gain funds and weapons, trans-state terrorist organizations may establish criminal enterprises or align with existing criminal networks. These hybrid networks command both economic and political resources that militants can use to broaden their support and suborn local officials. New data summarized here is based on survey by the Minorities at Risk project of the activities of 112 political organizations that represented ethnic or religious minorities in Middle Eastern countries. During 113 group-years between 1980 and 2004 these entities reportedly engaged in criminal activities such as smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, and money transfers and laundering.

This paper uses detailed information on the PKK to illuminate the interactions between political and economic activities by transnational terrorist organizations. The PKK for 30 years has used terror strategies aimed at establishing an independent Kurdistan in SE Turkey. By the 1990s it was able to extract about US$ 50 million annually in �taxes� and contributions from the Kurdish diaspora in Europe and to earn an estimated US$ 44 million from smuggling drugs from the Middle East and dealing them in European cities. After the 2003 US invasion of Iraq the PKK expanded its base areas in northern Iraq, intensified attacks on Turkish targets, and thus has become a source of serious conflict between the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government and Turkey. We analyze in detail the network of constraints and opportunities that have shaped the PKK�s political and economic strategies, and use our theoretical framework to suggest how the PKK is likely to respond to the changing power balance in the Arab peninsula, and to the tightening of EU anti-terrorism and anti-trafficking policies. We suggest inter alia that the PKK may undergo an agenda shift away from political terrorism and toward alliances with other international criminal networks.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The Global War on Terror has dominated U.S. foreign policy since the 9/11 attacks of 2001. The national security strategy of the United States has been clear: zero tolerance for known terrorists and their supporters. States were put on notice to conform to the policy or position themselves with the terrorists. To better explain this major shift in US and global security policy, IR theorists tended to privilege realism over other theories. However, there are significant gaps between realism's core explanatory logic and the dependent variable of state action. While scholars had previously noted that there was a conceptual problem with balancing against “evil” or non-state actors under the logic of realism, a new interpretation of realism appeared as the dominant explanation of how states should deal with terrorism. But there has been very little critique of the privilege of realism as the IR theory that best explains terrorism and the logic of state policies towards terrorism. This paper argues that identity as a social construct is as necessary a condition in the explanation of counter-terrorism policies, and shows how realism and the emphasis on material power does not offer a sufficient explanation for US policies with Turkey.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The Iraqi Kurds, a nation of 4 million, represent 25 percent of the population of Iraq. Their history has been marked by bloodshed, rebellion and systematic human rights violations. Of the catalogue of trauma experienced by the Kurds in Iraq, this paper focuses on the Anfal process. Specifically, the eight stage military campaign undertaken by the Ba�ath regime in 1988 that included the displacement of 1.5 million Kurds, the destruction of an estimated 4,000 villages, the systematic use of chemical weapons and the disappearance and death of an estimated 100,000 to 180,000, the vast majority of whom were civilians. Beginning with a discussion of the nature of the Anfal attacks, this inquiry moves on to examine the ways in which the Kurds frame the nature of the human rights violations suffered under Anfal, utilizing Alexander�s(2004) theoretical framework of cultural trauma. Next, it offers a discussion of the ways in which the Iraqi Kurds engagement in the cultural trauma process, as well as the inherent social structures of Kurdistan and the nature of the trauma itself, have led to the marginalization of the female survivors of Anfal. Finally, it enters the current dialogue surrounding concepts of truth, justice and reconciliation, illuminating how contemporary international engagement in Iraq reproduces the marginalization of Anfal survivors.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Paper examines the conflicts among Kurds and between Kurds and other nationalities of the several states in which they primarily reside, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, and Syria, as well as efforts to resolve these conflicts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Whatever our opinions about the legitimacy of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, we cannot deny that the war has produced profound new realities for the people of the country and the region. This becomes especially clear when one looks at the situation from the perspective of the Iraqi Kurds. Victims of genocide in Saddam's Iraq, the Kurds now enjoy an extraordinary amount of autonomous rule. Even David McDowall, perhaps the world's preeminent Kurdish historian, and a staunch opponent of the war, has acknowledged its importance for the Kurds. “Let us look at where the Kurds are now and where they once were” he writes. “In the wake of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, the Kurds appear to stand at a crucial turning point in their history. For the Iraqi Kurds, this juncture must without question be the most significant opportunity since 1919 to shape their future." Yet, despite these changes, numerous problems persist. These range from serious violations of human rights and general social inequality to corruption and a lack of democratic accountability among Kurdish political representatives. This paper assesses the post-war situation in Iraqi Kurdistan through the lens of various theories of democratization with the aim of understanding how Iraq Kurdistan's political, economic and social problems are being confronted by various state and non-state actors in Iraqi Kurdistan and the prospects for their management and resolution. In so doing, it also contributes to the broader discussions and debates over the problems of democratization in the Middle East.