Kurdish Geopolitics Explained — Marianna Charountaki

This episode of The IR thinker examines the evolving politics of the Kurds with Dr Marianna Charountaki, from the impact of the 2003 US invasion on the Kurdistan Regional Government and the fallout of the 2017 independence referendum to relations with Türkiye, Baghdad and external powers such as Russia. The conversation explores global perceptions of the Kurds, their role in counter-terrorism and the Syrian conflict, and their continuing struggle for recognition, rights and a viable political future.Marianna CharountakiDr Marianna Charountaki is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. Her research focuses on international relations theory, foreign policy analysis and Middle East area studies, with particular attention to Kurdish politics and the foreign policies of regional and external powers in the region.Publications:The Kurds and US Foreign Policy: International Relations in the Middle East since 1945Kurdish policies in Syria under the Arab Uprisings: a revisiting of IR in the new Middle Eastern orderThe GCC in Kurdish PoliticsFrom resistance to military institutionalisation: the case of the peshmerga versus the Islamic StateIran and Turkey: International and Regional Engagement in the Middle EastState and non-state interactions in International Relations: an alternative theoretical outlookNon-state actors and change in foreign policy: the case of a self-determination referendum in the Kurdistan Region of IraqMapping Non-State Actors in International RelationsContent00:00 – Introduction02:19 – Impact of the 2003 U.S. Invasion on the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG)06:02 – Global Perceptions of the Kurds08:29 – Türkiye’s Response to the PKK12:25 – Current Relations Between Türkiye and the KRG18:15 – Effects of the 2017 Kurdish Independence Referendum25:49 – The Kurds’ Role in Fighting Terrorism and Western Relations38:32 – KRG-Baghdad Relations on Oil Exports to Türkiye46:51 – Russia’s Relations with the Kurds54:38 – Human Rights and Crackdowns on Kurdish Political Parties01:00:04 – The Kurds’ Role in the Syrian Conflict01:08:51 – Future Political GoalsFollow & Further ResourcesSubstack: https://theirthinker.substack.com/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ir-thinker/X: https://x.com/irthinker_Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theirthinker/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/theirthinker.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/irthinkerfb Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.