Order vs Justice in the Middle East

Abstract

This article analyzes the Kurdish question in the Middle East from the English School perspective in international relations. The central argument is that the international community consistently deals with the Kurdish question through the principle of order rather than justice. It has respected the sovereignty of those nation-states hosting the Kurds rather than protecting the Kurdish population from grave human rights violations. Consequently, the Kurds have failed to achieve a semblance of autonomy, let alone independence. However, I argue that while the implementation of the no-fly-zone over northern Iraq in 1991 by the international community is a case for justice, it is not necessarily a case against the principle of order. In other words, the international community only dealt with the Kurdish issue using the principle of justice when implementing the 1991 no-fly-zone—but, notably, this was not against the principle of order.

Note From the Editor

“…The third article is entitled “Order versus Justice in the Middle East: The Kurdish Question in the English School Perspective.” Here, Hawre Hasan Hama (2022) makes a deeper foray into the Kurdish question by contrasting how it illustrates the pluralist and solidarist camps of the English School in international relations theory and their approach to order and justice. The author applies these two strands of theory to the international community's approach to the Kurdish nation and the problems engendered by their division across four states.…”