Beneath the Surface of the Kurdistan Independence Referendum

Abstract

This Letter aims at providing an alternative view to the prevailing narratives on the timing, the underpinning reasons and actual outcomes of the Kurdistan independence referendum held in September 2017. It is argued that with regard to all above perspectives dominant international analysis of the referendum has failed to account for important socio-political and economic factors without which any objective evaluation of such a prominent regional even will be incomplete if not outright inaccurate.