Abstract
ABSTRACTThis paper examines the hydropolitical issues faced by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) within domestic and international contexts. Domestically, water politics and hydraulic missions of the KRG are primarily shaped by disputes with the Iraq Federal Government (IFG) over territory, oil revenue distribution, and the historical pursuit of Kurdish independence. On the international stage, the KRG's water management is influenced by large‐scale upstream hydro‐infrastructural development, the economic benefits of oil transactions, conflict involving Kurdish nonstate armed groups, and the IFG's domestic and foreign policies. Employing a historical approach to hydropolitics, this paper, through a focused review of secondary data, underscores the domestic and international dimensions of the KRG's transboundary water politics. The findings reveal that power dynamics underpin both water conflict and cooperation—the KRG strives for quasi‐independent autonomy while grappling with the IFG's pursuit of maintaining centralized territorial control. Water, therefore, in the Tigris basin, has transformed into an instrument for regional actors to exert political pressure and pursue their respective interests.
Published Version
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