Palestinian and Kurdish nationalism: Understanding the ‘politics of the possible’

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article compares the efforts of the Palestinians and the Kurds – the two largest stateless nations in the Middle East – to obtain recognition. While Kurdish movements are spread across four countries in the region – Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, with specificities dependent on the historical context and relations with the particular host state – in this article we focus on the Syrian Kurds as a contrast to the Palestinians. This is because these two communities arrive at different end‐points in their national liberation projects despite sharing similar self‐determination aims. These differences provide an opportunity to analyse and comment on the factors which impact on self‐determination trajectories. The article examines the emancipatory potential of nationalism while simultaneously reflecting on the limitations imposed by regional dynamics and intra‐group tensions. We compare the constraints faced by these two groups as non‐state actors in a region shaped by the realpolitik of powerful states, recognizing that both of them – as transnational actors – in turn impact on these states as well.