Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic gorup in the Middle East but were never granted a chance to realise their historic long-term goal: An independent Kurdish nation-state. Kurds are largely Sunni Muslims, speaking a language similar to Persian. Their region is quite different from other parts of Iraq. People considereing themselves "resistance fighters" in cities like Mossul are very likely to end up in one of Iraqi Kurdistan's prisons, which mainly hold combatants engaged in spreading radical polical Islam.
While this distinctive difference is quite astonishing, it is impornat to take a closer look: In orer to establish an accurate portrayal regarding the structure of Iraqi Kurdistan's civil society and both the obstacles and opportunities the actors within it are facing, this study takes two steps:
First, it focuses on the range of "associations", i.e. the variety of actors that are to be found within civil society.
Secondly, the study focuses on the patron-client dimension of Iraqi Kurdistan's civil society. This will shed light on three different areas: the international (referring to external actors such as the US and NGO's), the national (drawing on the leverage exerted on Iraqi Kurdistan by the former Ba'ath regime and the new Iraqi government), and most importantly, the local level.
Finally, the study attempts to identify measures that are best suited to facilitate a progressive development of Iraqi Kurdistan's civil society.
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