Issue edited by Adel Bakawan and Jean Marcou
The Kurdish question constitutes one of the most enduring and complex political phenomena of the contemporary Middle East. Spanning several nation-states, embedded in shifting geopolitical configurations, and marked by a long history of domination, repression, and resistance, it cannot be reduced to a simple, unfinished claim to statehood. The disruption of global power balances and the profound transformations of the Middle East—reflected in the reconfiguration of authoritarian regimes, the emergence of new armed actors, and the growing centrality of transnational approaches—now require the Kurdish question to be reconsidered in new ways.
This issue seeks to move beyond classical readings of the phenomenon in order to analyze the internal transformations of the Kurdish political field. It aims to examine the plurality of Kurdish trajectories across national contexts, the emergence of social movements, the rise of Kurdish Islamism, the structuring role of the diaspora, and the place of the Kurds within regional and international power relations. Attention to social, ideological, memorial, and cultural dimensions makes it possible to grasp the Kurdish question as a more comprehensive political phenomenon, situated at the intersection of the local, the regional, and the global.
By bringing together contributions from a wide range of disciplines—political science, sociology, history, anthropology, law, economics, and international relations—this issue seeks to offer a critical and renewed reading of the Kurdish question in the twenty-first century. It privileges cross-cutting and comparative approaches, placing into perspective the issues that run through the Kurdish space as a whole. In this regard, the aim is to move beyond strictly national analyses limited to the frameworks of the main states of Kurdish settlement (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria). On the one hand, this comparative perspective makes it possible to understand the dynamics at work in this space, with their similarities and contrasts; on the other hand, it highlights deterritorialized, cross-border, and transnational strategies. The objective is to provide a rigorous analytical framework capable of capturing both the continuities and the ruptures that traverse Kurdish societies, as well as the multiple challenges they face in an unstable and highly conflictual regional environment. The research axes and issues presented below are intended to offer the widest possible range of potential contributors the opportunity to engage with this renewed approach to the Kurdish question. The final version of the journal issue will be restructured according to the proposals received and selected.
Research Axes and Key Issues
Axis 1: Kurdish History and Memory
To what extent have historical trajectories—from Ottoman domination to the contemporary fragmentation of the Middle East—shaped Kurdish national consciousness and structured its current claims? How does the memory of uprisings, unfulfilled promises (the Treaty of Sèvres, etc.), and persecutions feed contemporary identity discourses and political projects? What competing historical narratives (state-centered vs. Kurdish) contribute to the construction of a transnational Kurdish collective memory?
What models of governmentality have Kurdish movements claimed or experimented with (attempts at an independent nation-state, regional autonomy in Iraq, democratic confederalism in Syrian Rojava, participation in national and local political life in Turkey, etc.)? How does the Kurdish quest for a state or political autonomy reconfigure classical notions of state sovereignty and national borders in the Middle Eastern context? To what extent does the absence of a recognized Kurdish state—despite the fact that Kurds constitute one of the world’s largest stateless nations—call into question the principle of peoples’ right to self-determination and the ability of international institutions to enforce this right?
Axis 4: Armed Conflicts and Resistance
How has more than a century of armed conflicts involving the Kurds shaped Kurdish political and social visions? What strategies of resistance and armed mobilization have been deployed by Kurdish actors, and with what effects on the cohesion of the Kurdish national movement and on international perceptions of the Kurdish cause? To what extent have experienced violence (exoduses, massacres, the genocide of the Yazidis) and exercised violence (insurrections, attacks, guerrilla actions) strengthened the awareness of a shared Kurdish identity or, conversely, deepened internal (ideological, regional) divisions within the Kurdish people?
Axis 5: Kurdish Islamism between Nationalism, Salafism, and Terrorism
How does Kurdish Islamism position itself between nationalism, Salafism, and terrorism? How can the emergence of specific forms of Kurdish Islamism be explained in societies historically structured by secular nationalism? What are the ideological, organizational, and operational links between Kurdish Islamism and Arab, Turkish, and Iranian Islamisms? How have certain segments of Kurdish Islamism shifted toward armed struggle, violent radicalization, and integration into transnational networks such as al-Qaeda or ISIS?
To what extent do women’s, youth, student, and intellectual movements redefine the traditional frameworks of Kurdish political mobilization? Do these movements operate within a Kurdish national, transnational, or post-national logic? Are we witnessing a gradual autonomization of social struggles vis-à-vis classical Kurdish nationalism, or their strategic reintegration by political actors?
How has the Kurdish diaspora—numbering several million people worldwide—contributed both to the preservation of Kurdish identity and to the internationalization of its cause? What forms of transnational mobilization have Kurds developed to circumvent, or even transcend, state borders and create a Kurdish political space beyond their states of origin or residence (cultural associations in Europe, political lobbying, cross-border digital networks, etc.)? To what extent do transnational solidarities—between Kurds from Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Western diasporas—enable the emergence of a pan-Kurdish sense of belonging despite the diversity of political and social contexts?
In what ways does the “Kurdish question” constitute a major geopolitical issue in the Middle East? How does it influence relations among states in the region? What is the stance of major powers (the United States, European powers, Russia) toward Kurdish aspirations, and to what extent have they instrumentalized or supported Kurdish actors according to their strategic interests? More broadly, what does the Kurdish case reveal about the limits of contemporary international law—based on state sovereignty—and about the claims of stateless peoples? What prospects exist for a lasting political resolution of the Kurdish question on the international stage?
Article proposals, written in French or English, must include a title, the main research axis or axes to which they relate, an abstract of approximately 300 words presenting the research question, and a brief author biography. Proposals should be sent by email to the following addresses: adel.bakawan@eismena.com and jean.marcou@iepg.fr, before the deadline indicated below.
- Deadline for submission of article proposals: 15 March 2026
- Notification of editorial decisions: 2 April 2026
- Submission of full articles (30,000 characters including notes and spaces): 1 August 2026
- Planned publication: October 2026
Final articles may be written in French or English. They should be accessible in both presentation and style to a non-specialist readership (authors are encouraged to explain technical terms and adopt a clear, pedagogical style), while maintaining the expected level of academic rigor (appropriate referencing while avoiding overly long notes, sources, bibliography, and an explicit conceptual framework).