National borders often shift over time, in response to a variety of different motivations, including military conquest, quest for resources, and resolving conflicts. At times, the borders that are delineated are not representative of the populations that reside in the areas being partitioned. This is true with regards to the present-day borders in the Middle East and the movement to develop a Kurdish State: Kurdistan.
Individually, you will read the provided resources and assess the data provided to you in the ArcGIS Online Group for this class. You will then delineate borders to the best of your ability to create a Kurdistan that would cause the least amount of conflict.
After completing this task individually, you will share your borders with your small group, and together you must negotiate amongst yourselves to develop borders for Kurdistan that each group member agrees with. When the group map is finished, the group members will work together to answer the four questions at the end of the exercise.
Why do the Kurdish populations want a sovereign state? To understand the answer to this question, you need to dive into the group’s history. This stateless nation shares an identity and language that dates back to the Middle Ages, even though some Kurds differ in terms of their religious beliefs (Blakemore 2019). We will not deep-dive into the history of the Kurds too far, but understand that they share an ethnic identity that ties them, which feeds their desire for their own sovereign state.
To understand more about what happened, please read the following article about the Sykes-Picot Agreement [1] and its lasting impacts on the Middle East, especially with regards to its impact on the Kurdish population.
The splitting of the formerly continuous Kurdish population amongst several countries has been seen as problematic. This minority population within several countries (including Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran) have often faced difficulties in expressing their cultural identity. There have often been conflicts within Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran with regards to the Kurdish populations. Please view the following video to help demonstrate some of the conflicts within Turkey, Iraq, and Syria.
While Kurdistan has never actually been formalized as a nation, the geographic expanse of Kurdish populations has ebbed and flowed over time, as do many other ethnic groups. If you’re interested in the various changes to this ethnic population over time, consider viewing the following website (note that you are not required to view the site in order to complete the exercise):
The Kurdish Question on the Map [3] (This website, while potentially biased, also provides some context for the delineation of Kurdistan.)
While this website goes into greater depth, this exercise will focus on the delineation of a potential present day Kurdistan. Understanding the people’s history is integral to this delineation, and this exercise will have you compare the Kurdistan delineation proposed in 1920, the Kurdistan delineation proposed in 1945, and the currently-understood geographic spread of areas that are predominantly ethnically Kurdish.
Blakemore, E. (2019, August 16). Today, the Kurds are spread across four nations. Who are they? [4] National Geographic.
Compare the Kurdistan delineation proposed in 1920, the Kurdistan delineation proposed in 1945, and the currently-understood geographic spread of areas that are predominantly ethnically Kurdish.
Play with the order of the layers in your map. If one of the smaller areas is “on top” of a larger area, consider changing the layer order by clicking on the layer, holding the left click button, and dragging it to the top.
Delineating boundaries for a new country is often rife with controversy. To create a new country means taking territory from existing countries, which many countries do not take kindly to. Thus, as described in the Lesson 4 content, the delineation of borders is delicate business, and many considerations must be made before lines are drawn. Will the delineations be adequate for the country being created? Will it mitigate any potential conflicts with countries that territory will be taken from? What concessions can be made to the countries losing territory?
This is your task: taking into account what you know about the region, the Kurds, and the surrounding countries, delineate the borders for Kurdistan.
Once you’ve created your individual delineations, post them to your group’s discussion board. Come together, discuss the differences between your delineations, and create one delineation that you all can agree on.
Following the same procedure you did for your individual exercise, use your group’s Kurdistan feature layer (Named: Kurdistan_Group[your group’s number]) to delineate your agreed upon borders.
When you have completed the tasks 1 and 2, you should work with your group members to complete the Group Task and answer the Group Questions above. The final submission for this assignment should include the following:
When you have completed the assignment, select one group member to submit your document to the Lesson 4 ArcGIS Online Group Exercise dropbox.
The assignment should be submitted to the Lesson 4 ArcGIS Online Group Exercise dropbox, which contains specific instructions for submitting the assignment. I am expecting just one submission per group.
Please check the Canvas Syllabus or Calendar for specific time frames and due dates.