Abstract In the past, the main focus of migration studies was the investigation of influences of immigrants on the host society and their integration into the country of settlement. However, transnationalism studies currently place much greater emphasis upon the other side – which is the effect of living in diaspora, in the society of origin with trans-border citizenship. The cultural, social and political interactions and connections between Sweden as a country of settlement and Kurdistan (especially Iraqi Kurdistan), create a transnational social space where the members of the Kurdish elite can play a major role in improvement of Kurdistan. From here, their adoption of a double identity makes it possible for them to permanently define and redefine their position in Swedish society while simultaneously participating in the inherent development of Kurdistan. The merging of the members of the Kurdish elite’s discourse in rebuilding of democracy and development with regard to reconstruction, leads to more focus on the role of diaspora and understanding the Swedish Kurdish elite’s impact on “functionalizing” and major contribution in the current state of Kurdistan. The ways of expression, increasing academic value, multicultural behavior, and the elite’s activities in civil society organization in between two or several states, their appearance in the international scene, experiences of living in both host / home societies, and multi-relations in a diasporic context continuing and re-adjusting national identities are essential indications of trans-border identity formation of Kurdish diaspora. After the liberation of Kurdistan (northern Iraq 2003), members of the Kurdish elite experienced transnationalism mainly through transferring their success in performing various activities for their homeland and at the same time integrating more into the host countries that received them. During this research, the researcher met and interviewed a number of members of Kurdish elites who had very interesting stories about the Kurdish diaspora, and more especially the important role they play in the transnational space that connects the Kurdish homeland to many European countries and the United States. Using a phenomenology method, the researcher classifies the elements that can characterize the practices of Kurdish diaspora elite as transnationalism.  Sweden is one of the main countries where the Kurdish elite diaspora gathered and are organized to contribute to the development of Kurdistan. Since the Kurdish diaspora is the largest nation that lacks a state, the Kurdish diaspora has formed a long-distance nation in host country.

<p>I denna studie analyseras fem unga kurdiska kvinnors upplevelser av sina levnadsförhållanden i Sverige. Utifrån en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod och med hjälp av intervjuer, har faktorer som språk, föräldrarnas religion, traditioner och kultur granskats. Studiens teoretiska ram utgörs till stor del av diaspora, etnicitet och kultur, men även identitet, genus och stigma har använts som centrala teorier. Utöver dessa har flerspråkighet som begreppsdefinition haft en betydande roll för analysen och informanternas upplevelser och tankar.</p><p>Vi har i studien dragit slutsatsen att de kurdiska kvinnorna mer eller mindre har assimilerats in i det svenska samhället genom att de delvis har glömt bort sitt modersmål eller refererar till sig själva som svenskar. Detta av den anledning att de inte vill hamna i utanförskap och menar att det finns en klyfta mellan den svenska och kurdiska kulturen. Denna klyfta kulturerna emellan ökade efter att två hedersrelaterade våldshandlingar utfördes mot kurdiska flickor, och informanterna menar att det är en av anledningarna till varför många idag har fördomar gentemot kurder.</p>

I denna studie analyseras fem unga kurdiska kvinnors upplevelser av sina levnadsförhållanden i Sverige. Utifrån en kvalitativ undersökningsmetod och med hjälp av intervjuer, har faktorer som språk, föräldrarnas religion, traditioner och kultur granskats. Studiens teoretiska ram utgörs till stor del av diaspora, etnicitet och kultur, men även identitet, genus och stigma har använts som centrala teorier. Utöver dessa har flerspråkighet som begreppsdefinition haft en betydande roll för analysen och informanternas upplevelser och tankar. Vi har i studien dragit slutsatsen att de kurdiska kvinnorna mer eller mindre har assimilerats in i det svenska samhället genom att de delvis har glömt bort sitt modersmål eller refererar till sig själva som svenskar. Detta av den anledning att de inte vill hamna i utanförskap och menar att det finns en klyfta mellan den svenska och kurdiska kulturen. Denna klyfta kulturerna emellan ökade efter att två hedersrelaterade våldshandlingar utfördes mot kurdiska flickor, och informanterna menar att det är en av anledningarna till varför många idag har fördomar gentemot kurder.

The fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 is the one of the most important events in the history of Iran-Iraq relations. Prior to the US-led invasion, Iran and Iraq were by no means friends and fought each other bitterly for eight years in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. The enmity continued throughout the following decade, as Iran and Iraq developed intimate relationships with each others' dissidents and exiles. When Coalition forces finally toppled Saddam Hussein's government on April 9, 2003, the slate was cleared for Shi'ites and Kurds to assume power for the first time in Iraq's 80 year history. For leadership in the new Iraq, Shi'ites and Kurds turned to the organizations that struggled against the Ba'athists. Thus, Iran's Iraqi allies were able to fill Baghdad's power vacuum through elections and, at times, by force. As a result of regime change, Iran-Iraq relations have improved considerably. Despite some clear progress though, several contentious issues still remain.

No description available.

Sammandrag Kurder är idag världens största befolkning, som beräknas vara mellan 40-45 miljoner i hela världen, som är utan en erkänd stat. Dock finns det ett geografiskt område, i sydvästra Asien, som kallas för Kurdistan av alla kurder och är moderlandet för kurderna. I dagens läge är södra Kurdistan, norra Irak, den enda delen av Kurdistan som har en självständig region och är känd som KRG, Kurdistans regionala regering, och som den här studien kommer att fokusera på. Politiken i Mellanöstern ökar i snabb takt runt KRG, där under större delen av nittonhundratalet har setts som ett helt destabiliserande kraft i regionen, men i det senaste tio åren har denna uppfattning förändras. Idag är KRG en tillgång vad det gäller politiskt säkerhet i mellanöstern, där KRG bidrar till främjande av stabiliteten och utvecklingen i regionen. Syftet med denna uppsats är att förstå mekanismerna bakom stabiliteten och instabiliteten i konfliktfyllda regioner där KRG som aktör, i mellanöstern, ligger i fokus. Detta framställs genom att upplysa de problem som finns och förtydliggöra de regionala staternas ställningstagande gentemot KRG och vice versa. Genom de förändringar som har skett i regionen ska ett svar hittas till den övergripande frågan. Min strategi för att kunna besvara forskningsfrågan i uppsatsen är att analysera USA- och Turkiets säkerhetspolitiska hållning mot KRG. Detta tillämpades genom att göra en litteraturstudie av de dokument som tydliggör sammanställningen av geopolitiska processer och skeenden som omformat KRG:s ställning i regionen, i ett internationellt säkerhetsperspektiv. I detta används indikatorer från det teoretiska perspektivet realism för att på så sätt operationalisera och undersöka uppsatsens forskningsfråga. Slutsatsen visar att det finns många faktorer som påverkar KRG:s roll vad det gäller säkerhetsnivån både regionalt och internationell där mycket lutar åt samarbetet mellan KRG och Turkiet regionalt samt KRG och USA internationellt. Dessa kopplingar mellan KRG, Turkiet och USA ger ett kompletterande politik i regionen. / Abstract Kurds are now one of the world's largest population, estimated to be between 40-45 million worldwide, which is not a recognized state. However, there is a geographic area in southwestern Asia, known as Kurdistan by the Kurds and is the motherland. Nowadays, southern Kurdistan and northern Iraq is the only part of Kurdistan which has an autonomous region and is known as the KRG, the Kurdistan Regional Government, which this study will focus on. The politics in the Middle East is growing rapidly around the KRG, where during most of the twentieth century has been seen as a totally destabilizing force in the region, but in the last ten years this perception is changing. Today, the KRG is an asset in terms of political security in the Middle East, where the KRG contributes to the promotion of stability and development in the region. The purpose of this paper is to understand the mechanisms behind the stability and instability in conflict-ridden regions where the KRG as an actor in the Middle East is in focus. This is generated by informing the problems and clarifying the Regional States approach towards the KRG and vice versa. Through the changes that have taken place in the region an answer should be found to the overall question. My strategy to answer the research question in this paper is to analyze the US and Turkey's geopolitical posture toward the KRG. This was applied by making a literature review of the documents that clarify the compilation of geopolitical processes and events that transformed the KRG's position in the region, in an international security perspective. Indicators are used from the theoretical perspective realism to thereby operationalize and examine the essay research question. The conclusion shows that there are many factors that affect the KRG's role, in terms of security, both regional and international, where a lot leans towards cooperation between the KRG and Turkey regionally, as well as the KRG and the United States internationally. These connections between the KRG, Turkey and the United States provides a complementary policy in the region.

This thesis, depending on some Ottoman archival documents, examines the effects of the Tanzimat reforms on the Ottoman Armenians and Kurds and the origins of the conflicts amongst these communities in the Ottoman Empire. The reforms initiated in the Tanzimat era had such a transformative effect both on the Ottoman Armenian and Kurdish societies that social, political and economic structures of the two communities changed radically. Due to the effects of the Tanzimat reforms and of these structural changes, the relations between the Ottoman Armenian and Kurdish communities started to deteriorate and the communal conflicts emerged during the Tanzimat era. These conflicts between the Armenian and Kurdish communities continued after the Tanzimat era.

No description available.

The main purpose of this study is to examine what the factor or factors are to why young exposed Kurdish women stay with their family despite honor-related oppression and violence. We have used a qualitative study process consisting interviews with eight young Kurdish women. We have also applied theories such as cultural patterns and aspects of power by Mona Eliasson and normalization process by Eva Lundgren With the material from our research we can see that the main and only factor to why the respondents decide to stay with their family is fear of getting killed or beaten. This study will provide you as a reader a better understanding of why young exposed Kurdish women decide to stay with their family.

The outbidding model of intraethnic party competition has dominated the literature on ethnic party competition. The emphasis of this literature on radicalization as an inevitable consequence of intraethnic competition has recently faced fair criticism. Scholars have presented new empirical evidence for intraethnic party competition that runs counter to the predictions of outbidding. Nevertheless, the major assumptions of the outbidding model persist. Scholars generally focus on ethnic outgroups as a source of intraethnic party competition, disregarding other factors that affect competition between ethnic parties within the same ethnic group. My approach to study intraethnic party competition is different. Instead of merely focusing on ethnic politics as the main factor driving intraethnic competition, I investigate other factors that determine intraethnic competition beyond ethnic politics, including social cleavages, and the electoral system. I submit that intraethnic party competition cannot be boiled down simply to ethnic politics. Ethnic parties within the same ethnic group compete over various issues ranging from socioeconomic concerns, to foreign policy and regionalists.