ABSTRACT
Between 1991 and 2011 the Kurdish leadership in Northern Iraq transformed from a collection of guerrilla groups into the government of a semi-autonomous, or rather a de facto independent, Kurdistan Region. In 1991 the guerrilla fighters laid down their arms and began diverting their meagre resources towards state-building. This was not simply a response to unfolding events; rather, it was a stage in a prolonged rebellion, and the most recent act of defying Baghdad’s authority. By establishing autonomous administration and state apparatuses, the KRG followed a common pattern of action that emerged in the early 1990s among secessionist movements.
