Böcker utgivna av I B TAURIS

The Kurds are one of the largest stateless nations in the world, numbering more than 20 million people. Their homeland lies mostly within the present-day borders of Turkey, Iraq and Iran as well as parts of Syria, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Yet until recently the 'Kurdish question' - that is, the question of Kurdish self-determination - seemed, to many observers, dormant. It was only after the so-called Arab Spring, and with the rise of the Islamic State, that they emerged at the centre of Middle East politics. But what is the future of the Kurdish national movement? How do the Kurds themselves understand their community and quest for political representation? This book analyses the major problems, challenges and opportunities currently facing the Kurds. Of particular significance, this book shows, is the new Kurdish society that is evolving in the context of a transforming Middle East. This is made of diverse communities from across the region who represent very different historical, linguistic, political, social and cultural backgrounds that are yet to be understood. This book examines the recent shifts and changes within Kurdish societies and their host countries, and argues that the Kurdish national movement requires institutional and constitutional recognition of pluralism and diversity. Featuring contributions from world-leading experts on Kurdish politics, this timely book combines empirical case studies with cutting-edge theory to shed new light on the Kurds of the 21st century.

This book offers a ten-year perspective on ongoing and evolving practices of digital activism across the Middle East and North Africa, drawing on interviews and ethnographic evidence collected between 2012 and 2022. It examines the shifting narrative around digital activism in the region, from the wake of the 2011 uprisings to the 2019 series of protests coined 'the second wave of the Arab Spring'. It considers how media activists navigate the transition from the emergent to the mainstream in a climate of contentious politics, following the civil mobilisations of the pro-revolutionary youths in Tunisia, Egypt, and Lebanon. It outlines the particularities of these three different political contexts and media environments, featuring case studies of the Tunisian blogosphere, online campaigning in the Egyptian elections and interviews with social media activists. In light of this empirical evidence, the book offers a critique of the increasing prevalence of a security perspective through which online activism has been viewed and its deleterious effect on digital political engagement in the region.

Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul would lose its position as capital yet remain a crucial urban centre in the new Turkish republic. Since the 1950s it has undergone a metamorphosis from a mid-sized city to a megapolis. Beyoglu, historically represented as its most 'cosmopolitan' district and home to European embassies and cultural institutions, is a microcosm of these changes. This book explores the urban history of Beyoglu via a series of case studies which use previously unexamined archival material to tell the story of its local and international institutions. From the German Teutonia club and a centre point of Turkey's cinema culture to influential francophone, British and German schools which educated many of Turkey's future elite, the book charts the shifting identities of the residents of the district. These case studies reveal the effects of changing political circumstances, from the rise of nationalism to Turkey's place in the Cold War, as well as critically examining Beyoglu's legacy as a multicultural centre. In the process, the book reveals a picture of resilience, cross-cultural contact and provides an important contribution to our understanding of present-day and historical Istanbul and Beyoglu.

The century after the conquests of Timur witnessed the division of eastern and western Iran between his Turko-Mongol successors, and a flowering of Persian culture in the great cities of Herat, Samarqand and Tabriz, among others. In this, the ninth volume in The Idea of Iran series, leading scholars analyse the ways that Timurid contemporaries viewed their traditions and their environment, asking questions such as: what was the view of outsiders, and how does modern scholarship define the distinctive aspects of the period? Essential reading for scholars, students, and all those interested in the history of Iran, the book considers the political, religious and cultural history of this rich and highly productive interval that was the springboard for the formation of new imperial Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal and Ozbek orders of succeeding centuries.

Syria is now one of the most important countries in the world for the documentary film industry. Since the 1970s, Syrian cinema masters played a defining role in avant-garde filmmaking and political dissent against authoritarianism. After the outbreak of violence in 2011, an estimated 500,000 video clips were uploaded making it one of the first YouTubed revolutions in history. This book is the first history of documentary filmmaking in Syria. Based on extensive media ethnography and in-depth interviews with Syrian filmmakers in exile, the book offers an archival analysis of the documentary work by masters of Syrian cinema, such as Nabil Maleh, Ossama Mohammed, Mohammed Malas, Hala Al Abdallah, Hanna Ward, Ali Atassi and Omar Amiralay. Joshka Wessels traces how the works of these filmmakers became iconic for a new generation of filmmakers at the beginning of the 21st century and maps the radical change in the documentary landscape after the revolution of 2011. Special attention is paid to the late Syrian filmmaker and pro-democracy activist, Bassel Shehadeh, and the video-resistance from Aleppo and Raqqa against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State. An essential resource for scholars of Syrian Studies, this book will also be highly relevant to the fields of media & conflict research, anthropology and political science.

The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, in support of a Marxist-Leninist government, and the subsequent nine-year conflict with the indigenous Afghan Mujahedeen was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Cold War. Key details of the circumstances surrounding the invasion and its ultimate conclusion only months before the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 have long remained unclear; it is a confidential narrative of clandestine correspondence, covert operations and failed intelligence. The Secret War in Afghanistan undertakes a full analysis of recently declassified intelligence archives in order to asses Anglo-American secret intelligence and diplomacy relating to the invasion of Afghanistan and unveil the Cold War realities behind the rhetoric. Rooted at every turn in close examination of the primary evidence, it outlines the secret operations of the CIA, MI6 and the KGB, and the full extent of the aid and intelligence from the West which armed and trained the Afghan fighters.Drawing from US, UK and Russian archives, Panagiotis Dimitrakis analyses the Chinese arms deals with the CIA, the multiple recorded intelligence failures of KGB intelligence and secret letters from the office of Margaret Thatcher to Jimmy Carter. In so doing, this study brings a new scholarly perspective to some of the most controversial events of Cold War history. Dimitrakis also outlines the full extent of China's involvement in arming the Mujahedeen, which led to the PRC effectively fighting the Soviet Union by proxy. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of the Cold War, American History and the Modern Middle East.