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** CFTNI Policy Brief
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** The Kurds at a Crossroads: A Survey of Politics and Society
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I am writing to share a new Center for the National Interest Regional Perspectives paper with contributions from Center Senior Fellow Dr. Joshua Yaphe, Dr. Soran Tarkhani, and journalist Wladimir van Wilgenburg. Joshua Yaphe’s essay assesses the results of a survey of Kurdish thought leaders across four countries, while Dr. Tarkhani and Mr. Van Wilgenburg offer expert perspectives on Kurdish politics and U.S. policy toward the Kurds.

The Center surveyed leading Kurdish intellectuals in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Türkiye in the spring of 2026 to try to gauge how Kurdish politics is evolving. The period leading up to the survey had witnessed some dramatic changes. The Syrian Transitional Government (STG) was consolidating authority over the formerly semi-autonomous Kurdish regions in the northeast, the Iranian regime was firing drones and missiles at Iranian Kurdish camps on the Iraqi side of the border, the Turkish National Assembly was debating a new framework agreement to disarm and demobilize the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), and the Kurdish parties in northern Iraq were still unable to form a cabinet for the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) after 18 months. Many Kurds were deeply pessimistic about the future.

Respondents overwhelmingly pointed to corruption, nepotism, and the patronage networks that fuel them as the major factors holding back Kurdish progress and creating obstacles to a properly functioning economy. Many viewed the KRG as an achievement, but not a model to be emulated, while the experiment in self-governance in Syria was admired for its principles, but not for its practicality. Above all, the respondents had lost confidence in the ability of current political elites and institutions to meet the needs of the next generation, and they called for Kurds from all walks of life to create a more vibrant civil society that would allow them to become more involved in politics.

I hope the paper is of interest and welcome your feedback.

Read the brief ([link removed]) .

For more CFTNI publications, please see our website ([link removed]) .

Paul J. Saunders

President

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The Kurds at a Crossroads: A Survey of Politics and Society

Kurdistan is a political reality. Not in the sense of a sovereign state with a monopoly on the use of force and diplomatic recognition from its neighbors, but rather as an idea shared by millions of people living across the modern borders of Iraq, Iran, Türkiye, and Syria, and within a larger diaspora. The Kurdish cause is widely felt, with belief and conviction, regardless of local political circumstances, and it is therefore a strong motivating factor in Kurdish politics everywhere.

The Center for the National Interest conducted a survey in the spring of 2026 to try to gauge individual perspectives on where Kurdish politics have been and where they are going.

Read it here ([link removed]) .

About the Authors:

Joshua Yaphe ([link removed]) is a Senior Fellow at the Center for the National Interest. He was previously a senior analyst for the Arabian Peninsula at the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research and visiting faculty at the National Intelligence University. He has a PhD from American University and is the author of two books: Saudi Arabia and Iraq as Friends and Enemies: Borders, Tribes and a History Shared ([link removed]) and Time and Narrative in Intelligence Analysis: A New Framework for the Production of Meaning ([link removed]) .

Soran Tarkhani ([link removed]) is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Hampton University. He has a PhD from Southern Illinois University and is the author of Divided Loyalties, Electoral Rules, and Intra-Party Competition: Kurdish Politics in Iraq ([link removed]) .

Wladimir van Wilgenburg ([link removed]) is a journalist based in Erbil. He has written for Foreign Policy, Al Monitor, Middle East Eye, Al Jazeera, Kurdistan24, Kurdistan Chronicle, The New Region, and many others. He is the co-author of The Kurds of Northern Syria: Governance, Diversity and Conflicts ([link removed]) and Accidental Allies: The U.S.-Syrian Democratic Forces Partnership Against the Islamic State ([link removed]) .

Copyright (C) 2026 Center for the National Interest. All rights reserved.

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