Publication

This paper discusses the political, economic and military systems in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, and argues how changes in the region’s society could foster instability as well as provide a possibility for democratization. More specifically, the author focuses on 1) how power in the region is concentrated in the hands of the dominant political parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) as well as a small number of families who perpetuate a non-democratic system based on clientelism and nepotism; and 2) how this system of power contrasts with growing demands for rule-of-law-based governance in the region. Finally, they discuss what opposition parties and Western governments can do to bring about reform and democratization in the region.