Abstract:
Since 1978, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party has been engaged in a guerilla war against the state of Turkey to establish a Kurdish homeland in the southeast corner of Turkey. Kurdish national movements also exist in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, nations that, along with Turkey, hold sovereignty over the contiguous territory known as Kurdistan. The Kurdish national struggle in the region is largely a result of international interference, geopolitical interests of regional and global powers, and the cultural flows of a globalizing world. In particular, imported notions of identity and citizenship and the spread of neoliberalism engendered ethnic rivalry leading to violent national struggle.
Within the same historical period, a national struggle in the West unfolded pitting Irish nationals against English nationals in the territory of Northern Ireland. Like the Kurdish-Turkish conflict, this conflict showcases the effects of globalization on national and separatist movements. However, the Northern Ireland case underwent a crucial transformation at the end of the 20th century when the parties engaged in violent struggle agreed to lay down arms and pursue their agendas through peaceful, democratic means. The nature of the Northern Ireland peace accord, or Good Friday Agreement, has remained controversial, with some critics warning that its illiberal, consociational character does not facilitate understanding and reconciliation between the hostile parties. Nevertheless, the character of the Good Friday Agreement and the subsequent years of relative calm in Northern Ireland present interesting intellectual challenges to purveyors of neoliberalism and underscore the potential for the international community to defuse ethnic violence throughout the world.
In Northern Ireland, international involvement has been a crucial element to the stability of the region over the past decade and a half. In Turkey, however, international elements have exacerbated ethnic tensions, perpetuating the cycle of separatist and state violence. This paper examines how globalization and its underpinning ideologies historically exacerbated ethnic tensions and contributed to secessionist violence, and how new developments within the academic and political communities are creating changes in the global system that may help to alleviate the violence of ethnic conflict.
