The Oil Policy and Independence of the Kurdistan Regional Government

Abstract

The oil policy of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is mainly focused on achieving full political independence besides pursuing other interests. The Kurdistan region of Iraq contains approximately one third of the total proven energy resources of the country. This raises the question of why Kurdistan’s oil policy could not be used as a leverage for its independence in the Middle East? The main hypothesis of this research is that the complex system of the Middle East is not in line with the ultimate goal of the KRG, which is separation from Iraq and the establishment of an independent Kurdish state. The research findings show that the independence of the KRG faces severe challenges in the complex sphere of the Middle East. These challenges are mainly rooted in the weakness of the KRG in regional networking and also in the activities of terrorist groups in the region.