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IRAQ The Kurdish Quasi-State: Development and Dependency in Post-Gulf War Iraq, by Denise Natali. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2010. xxxiii + 136 pages. Gloss. to p. 140. Refs. to p. 152. Index to p. 158. $24.95.
Denise Natali has given us a short, sophisticated analysis of the evolutionary development of what she terms the "Kurdish quasi-state" in northern Iraq, which is officially known as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). She defines quasi-states as "political entities that have internal but not external sovereignty and seek some form of autonomy or independence. They are part of a failed state or an outcome of unfair postimperial boundary markers" (p. xxi). Her basic thesis is that the type of foreign aid received by the Iraqi Kurds has determined what kind of political, economic, and social entity they have been able to construct. "This book ... aims to show that while structural legacies and ethnic traditions have historically defined the relationship between the Kurds and the central government, external aid has created new dependencies and interdependencies, and avenues for conflict and cooperation" (p. xx).
Natali's book deserves attention because she has lived and worked in the region first in disaster relief and post-conflict reconstruction programs and subsequently as a professor teaching in various universities since 1992. These positions have given her unique opportunities to develop ties with indigenous personnel and engage in field work with an authority that would be difficult for outside observers or occasional visitors to equal. Natali also has a quick energy and keen eye that serve her well. She...