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The question of today is Kurdistan (Southern
Kurdistan) to be independent or stay as part of
Iraq?
I. I will discuss briefly the formation of the
boundaries of a nation.
II. A brief analysis of the New World Order and
Implication on Kurdish Independence.
In order to achieve independence every nation should
have a boundary which sets it apart from other
nations. There are two categories of
borders/boundaries:
1) Traditional border/boundary
2) Political border/boundaries
1. Traditional Boundary:
Traditional boundary of a nation is based on the
inevitability of a comparison of one community of
people with other similar community in the form of
the “WE-THEY ANTITHESIS.
To be considered an ethnic community the opposition
of WE-THEY is not enough; rather, the continuity of
the distinction is a vital issue.
Another major feature of a Traditional Nation
is–COMMON LANGUAGE which is a persistent part of the
culture of the community and is preserved by members
of the national community even after migration. A
common language for every nation does not mean that
there should be different languages for different
nations; rather it means that there is no nation
which at one and the same time speaks several
languages.
A nation is formed only as a result of lengthily and
systematic exchange, as a result of people living
together generation after generation which we may
call HISTORY. But, people cannot live together for
lengthy periods unless they have a common TERRITORY.
In addition to the above features one must take into
consideration the total CULTURE of a nation. But,
what is culture? National Culture is “A tradition
which is transmitted in a society: including
artistic, social, ideological, religious, patterns
of behavior, and techniques for mastering the
environment.”
Kurdish people have their own unique culture. It is
a culture of life rather than a culture of death.
This is in opposition of what is prevalent in their
neighboring communities. Dance and music in Kurdish
culture are rituals of life and expression of
triumph over natural and political difficulties. A
clear example of this culture of life is when they
celebrate and dance even during war. Kurds have no
tolerance for suicidal behavior or terrorism.
The final feature of a national boundary is:
PSYCHOLOGY OF BELONGING/ PSYCOLOGICAL MAKE UP. This
feature plays an important role in national
boundary. It is the glue for cohesion of all other
features. I remember in 1963 when Great Mustafa
Barzani was asked “who is a Kurd? Among other things
he said “Any body who considers himself a Kurd is a
Kurd.” And I add anybody who is proud to be Kurd.
Let us apply above features to Kurdish Nation. The
Kurdish language belongs to Indo-European family of
languages - a branch of Indo-Iranian or West Iranian
subgroup. Some linguists consider it among Caspi
group of languages namely Gilaki, Mazandarani Etc.
The Kurdish language with different dialects of
Gorani, Kermanji, Sorani and Zaza has no affiliation
with either Arabic which belongs to the Semitic
group of languages or Turkish as branch of Altaic
group of languages. Kurdish language is a
manifestation of Kurdish national culture. A clear
example of this linguistic and cultural affinity
could be found in Kurdish words for months. In the
Kurdish calendar, names such as Meh-e Gulan (month
of flowers), Bextebaran (rainy month), Xermanan
(harvest month ), Sermawez (chilling season),
Gelarezan (season for falling leaves), Rebenan
(roads closed—21st December-20th January), Cile
(21st January-20 February ,and Newrozmang (new
year’s month—21st of February-20th of March) all are
hallmarks of an agricultural community and
environmentally specific of Kurdistan on the basis
of Solar calendar.
As for continuity of the culture: In the Kurdish
national anthem --Ay Raqib; ema rolay media v
kayxosroin (we are descendents of Media and King
Xosro), Kurds consider themselves as descendants of
Medes/Mada. But, we may even trace Kurdish Culture
to pre-history.
Ralph Soleki American archaeologist did a series of
excavations in Zawi-Chomi between 1953- 1960.
According to Soleki; Shanidar in Kurdistan has been
the birth place of present Shanidar-people for close
to 3,000 generations. He adds that Shanidar is close
to be the birth place of the first great
civilization in Mesopotamia. He refers to Kurds as a
proud and self sufficient people.
Discovery from the first layer of 7,000 years ago
covers the revolutionary period in man’s way of life
when they emerged from mere hunting and gathering to
agriculture and Animal husbandry. They were able to
produce agriculture, make potteries, till the land,
grind wheat and spin the wool as they do today.
Finally the last discovery in the proto-Neolithic
horizon of the skeletons found at the Shanidar cave
and the village site yielded evidence of the amazing
discovery that, Shanidar people buried their deaths
with flowers.
Further study of several slides and sample of soil
by Leori-Gourham botanist confirmed that “Shanidar
people were the first flower man .She added that,
and “flowers were probably woven into spine-like
branches and no accident of nature could have
deposited such remains deep in the cave.
Neither birds nor animals could have carried flower
in such a manner with a burial. Solocki believes
that, “the flowers from Shanidar seem to have had
spiritual ritual for death.”
To draw conclusion the Kurdish people are a nation
with clear national/traditional boundary with common
language, common history, common territory common
continuous culture, and psychology of belonging.
They are entitled with the right to nationhood and
independence as any other nations of the world.
2. Political
Boundary/Border/Map:
This border/map is assigned or dictated by major
powers, based on purely self–serving interests or
the political world order of the time, without the
consent and agreement of the subjugated nations—in
this case Kurds.
Therefore, this boundary or map is not sacred and
will be changed many times based on the New World
Order.
II. How does this new world order affect the border
of a Nation?
The end of the cold war brought a wave of national
liberation movements in Eastern Europe, the collapse
of the Soviet empire, even very close to
Home -- on the border of Kurdistan, Republics of
Azerbaijan, Georgia and other newly formed countries
such as East -Timor, Bosnia, etc. have challenged
the conception of global development.
From an evolutionary point of view we are witnessing
a process of disintegration of nation-states. Many
countries are challenged to redefine their ethnic
and political boundaries and review their internal
and external relations. This new wave of national
consciousness has created a feeling that
national-state boundaries are not as sacred as they
once were.
As former president George H. Bush stated, in his
state of the union address in 1990;
“In this century, the political map of the world was
transformed many times.
And in each instance a new world order came about.”
In general the “new world order” is an era in which
nations are to be governed by democratic principles
of consent and agreement (campaign speech, 1988).
It is an era in which the attention from “Balance of
power has shifted to Equilibrium and Democracy”.
Finally, the new global agenda has shifted the
attention of policy makers, from achieving military
superiority to social, economic, and educational
well being as well as to the security of their
citizens.
What is the underlying structure of this new order,
and how does it apply to the world community
specifically to Kurds?
Adam Smith and others are convinced that our
economic system is a reflection of what we are. A
brief analysis of world economy may explain why we
are what we are:
World markets are linked electronically.
Multinational corporations, banks and companies such
as Visa etc. have more control over finances than
most governments do. These companies observe no
boundaries. They can exchange stocks, bonds future
money-markets, and trade globally simply by means of
electronic technology. Global economy is becoming
increasingly interdependent. So much so that, no
national boundary, economic sanction or even boycott
can stop the flow of trades.
In this era of global economy, local economy is
becoming more and more irrelevant.
National leaders have two choices—either to give in
to the global economy, or become obsolete.
The general theme of the new world order is that it
is time to say good-bye to the nation- states.
Sociologist Mcluhan is convinced that “along with
globalization of economy, comes a countervailing
trend toward …, nationalism etc”.
Henry Kissinger in his new book (Diplomacy 1994, p.
23) predicts that “The international system of the
twenty first century will be marked by a seeming
contradiction: on one hand fragmentation
[nation–states]; on the other hand globalization.”
Finally the scenario for the twenty first century is
globalization of economy associated with
disintegration of many nation-states with
multi-ethnic groups, into smaller nations or
confederations of small nations, based on what
Kurtzman has termed “Widerarchy” rather than
Hierarchy of nations.
As we see in the last decades of the twentieth
century nation-states that did not allow their
ethnic groups to express their diversity freely,
were caught in purely domestic struggles and lost
their general voice as a nation.
As for the boundary of new nations, it will be based
on “We vs. They”
oppositions. This Boundary can be expressed as
people who share a common language, common history,
geographical territory, common culture, and
psychology of belonging.
In conclusion, Kurdistan is on the highway of
globalization. And for the first time in Kurdish
history the interests of the United States and major
European powers are intertwined. Kurdish people
cannot afford and should not loose this historical
opportunity and tie their destiny with the rest of
Iraq which is chaotic and very far from stability.
Furthermore, Kurdistan government has proved that it
is capable of practicing democracy for 14 years. We
cannot turn the clock back as we cannot ask
liberated nations in other parts of the globe to
return to their previous nation-states. After all
this is not a radical idea for Kurds. Isn’t this
what Great Kurdish leader Mustafa Barazani wished
and fought for?
An independent Kurdistan will bring stability to the
region. A free independent Kurdistan will be a safe
heaven for foreign investors which bring about
protection from foreign countries and allow the
Kurdistan government to flourish and prosper.
Bibliography
Bush, President George. The U.N. World Parliament of
Peace;
Address to the U.N. General Assembly (New York, NY:
October 1, 1990)
Kissinger, Henry. Diplomacy (New York, NY: Simon
&Schuster, 1994
Kurtzman, Joel. The Death of Money (new York: Simon&
Schuster, 1993, PP.225-227)
McLuhan, Marshall. War and Peace in the Global
Village (1968),
Minsky, Hyman. Economics (St. Louis, Mo: 1995)
Rahmani, Monireh. Ethnography of Change;
Dissertation (Norman, Oklahoma: University of
Oklahoma, 1985)
Robertson, Pat. The New World Order (Dallas, TX:
Word Publishing, 1991)
Soleki, Ralph. Shanidar, the First Flowerman
(Harvard University
Acknowledgement
The paper was given in the Kurdish Independence
Conference in Kurdistan, November, 2005 • Salahaddin
University & University of Sulaimani • Kurdistan
I should express my appreciation to the KNC North
America And particularly Dr. Saman Shali, Professor
Asad Gailani and Mrs. Soreya Sarajaeddini And
special thanks to universities of Salahaddin and
Sulemani for this invitation. Indeed this was a
dream come through for me to be in Kurdistan at home
among my fellow Kurds.
www.kurdishmedia.com
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