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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.

Since 2012, there has been an increase of media attention on the Kurds, particularly women who are active in the YPJ and Peshmerga. Various publications have equated women's militarization with women's liberation. In an effort to more accurately measure this, the following question must be asked; what is the effect of women's military involvement on women's rights? Women that are active in both nationalist movements and traditional state armies are presented with changing gender roles. Post conflict, there is a struggle for women to transfer their newfound autonomy into political activism. The theory outlines a chain in which women participate in the armed forces, feel empowered, are able to obtain positions of influence, and create policy and social change. A break in any point of this chain will block female excombatants from influencing women's rights. The theory is tested on Kurdish women active in the Iraqi Peshmerga and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) in Syria. Data on women's military participation and their impact on women's rights was gathered from NGO reports, news articles, scholarly journals, and laws that were passed in Iraqi Kurdistan and Northern Syria. The evidence gathered indicates that women's military participation is not the only mechanism for improving women's rights. While the development of gender equality in Northern Syria can be linked to women's militarization, gender equality efforts in Iraqi Kurdistan do not have a direct link to women's involvement in the Peshmerga. This work adds to the ongoing discussion on Kurdish political rights, particularly women's autonomy.

The aim and purpose of this study is to explore how the Western media, more precisely six British newspapers, portrays the Kurdish female fighters of the Women’s Protection Units and the Peshmerga, who today are fighting against Deash in Northern Iraq and Syria. There have been a growing media interest in the Kurdish female fighters since the rise of Daesh, and they were an often recurring subject in newspapers and other media platforms during 2014 and 2015. I have collected 32 articles from six different newspapers, and applied a framework consisting of six different frames developed by Brigitte L. Nacos together with theories of media framing and social constructivism. The methodology is conducted as a critical discourse analysis, inspired by Norman Fairclough’s three-dimensional model.     In the articles, the Kurdish female fighters are portrayed as a different phenomenon, however, the articles still describes them as brave and dignified fighters who are rational in their understanding of what they are fighting for and what they are sacrificing. They are portrayed as being motivated by issues such as equality and female liberation in contrast to Deash anti-female values. The previous research conducted by feminist scholars often focuses on that the media portray women, who conduct acts of political violence, in a negative ways, such as deviants who are lacking traditionally stereotypical feminine characteristics or that their looks are in focus instead of their motivations. However, I have drawn the conclusion that there is more to how the Kurdish female fighters are portrayed then what one would think.