Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship

The armed non-state actors in the Middle East, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Kurds, are increasingly demonstrating features of both state and non-state actors and acting autonomously in their foreign policy. Ozum Yesiltas' book "Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship" investigates the growing influence of Middle Eastern non-state actors as agents of foreign policy through an analysis of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship.

Format: Hardback
Length: 180 pages
Publication date: 15 August 2022
Publisher: Lexington Books

The Middle East is characterized by political vacuums created by state weakness, leading to the emergence of armed non-state actors such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Kurds. These actors exhibit features of both state and non-state entities and operate autonomously in their foreign policy. A recent study, "Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship," explores the growing influence of Middle Eastern non-state actors as agents of foreign policy. The study, authored by Ozum Yesiltas, examines the underlying causes of increased U.S.-Kurdish cooperation since the early 1990s and assesses the extent to which existing approaches in international relations are adequate in explaining the changing political landscape in the Middle East that brought the U.S. and Kurds together in new ways. Yesiltas highlights the ways in which U.S.-Kurdish interactions contributed to the escalation of Kurdish nationalism as a transnational phenomenon and how the growing saliency of Kurdish transnational politics reshapes U.S. foreign policy and the broader regional order. The study underscores the importance of understanding the dynamics between state and non-state actors in the Middle East and the potential for cooperation and conflict in the region.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781793645913