ABSTRACT
In a recent referendum, voters in the Kurdish region of Iraq expressed a strong desire for independence. However, while the popular will is unequivocal in its rejection of rule from Baghdad, the Kurdish Regional Government’s leaders have largely failed to bring about the necessary degree of internal unity on which to base an independent state. Would-be ‘Kurdistan’ is effectively divided within itself between two subregional blocs comprising effectively the “north” and “south” of the region. It is argued that the independence cause cannot proceed on this basis and thus engendering genuine internal unity must be given top priority. The twofold case to be examined in this chapter is that Kurdistan cannot meet the requirements of sovereignty because it lacks internal unity, and that moreover, importantly, the task of unification cannot be achieved by political means alone. Kurdistan’s political culture is circumscribed by the structured socioeconomic conditions in which it operates. It is these determining structural conditions which will have to be addressed if the cause of independence is to be properly advanced.
