Contemporary Kurdish Problem In The Middle East

After the Cold War the third wave of nationalism rose all around the word. As the largest people without a country in the world, the Kurds'struggle for autonomy or independence became more active. From the 1991 Gulf War to the 2003 Iraqi War and from Turkey's cross-border hunting PKK to Turkey's effort for joining the EU, the Kurdish issue has increasingly become the focus of international concern. In fact, so far the Kurdish issue has long stand about one hundred years. The Kurds'long-time nationalist movements have gone through the modern history of the Middle East. Since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire by the end of the World War One and the Kurds were divided into Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, the Kurdish problem has not only challenged the domestic affairs, but also affected the regional and international relations deeply. July Revolution of Iraq occurred in 1958 overthrew the monarchy and established the Republic, Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 and the Iran-Iraqi war during 1980-88, the role of the Kurdish question could be found in all of the events which concerned the related countries and the whole Middle East.To understand the Middle East comprehensively and deeply, the study of the Kurdish Issue is essential. The study of the issue will help us to understand the history, current situation and the future trends of the related countries and the whole Middle East, to grasp the regional and international political situation and forecast the developing trend of international relations. While all of these will be significant for China to promote relations with countries concerned and develop foreign policy. As one of the most important ethnic questions in the world, a number of phenomena and laws shown by the Kurdish question have general meaning. To observe and learn from these phenomena and laws will help us to understand and deal with the ethnic questions of other countries and regions (including our own ethnic questions).Currently, the systematic study of the Kurdish question is basically blank in domestic academic community. Only a handful of papers were published and there is no publicly published monograph. The writing of the Kurdish Question in the Contemporary Middle East is on the basis of accessing the English literatures mainly. The paper is organized in chronological order and focuses more on major events, trying to look through systematically and comprehensively the origin of the Kurdish question, its development, its current situation, its trend and outlook by using relevant theories of nationalism and international relations.