Managing Arab-Kurd tensions in Northern Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops
By: Larry Hanauer, Jeffrey Martini, Omar Al-Shahery
Contributors: Martini, Jeffrey; Al-Shahery, Omar; National Defense Research Institute (U.S.); Rand Corporation
Series: Occasional paper -- OP-339-USFI; Occasional paper (Rand Corporation) -- OP-339-USFI.
Publisher: RAND
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Santa Monica, CA
Language: eng
Number of pages: 25
ISBN-13: 9780833053213
Subjects: Ethnic relations; Arabs; Kurds; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Peace; Disengagement (Military science)
Other titles: Managing Arab-Kurd tensions in Northern Iraq after the withdrawal of US troops; Managing Arab-Kurd tensions in Northern Iraq after the withdrawal of United States troops
Description: To help U.S. policymakers prepare for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq in late 2011, this paper presents options for mitigating the risks of Arab-Kurd conflict and suggests mechanisms through which U.S. government entities -- both civilian and military -- could work to alleviate tensions in northern Iraq. The authors discuss the feasibility of a range of confidence-building measures that could help Arabs and Kurds build trust and avoid conflicts that might derail peaceful efforts to resolve Iraq's fundamental political challenges. They conclude that such efforts are unlikely to contain Arab-Kurd violence over the long-term absent a national-level agreement regarding federalism, the legal and political status of disputed territories, and the management of oil and gas resources. However, by managing local disputes, confidence-building measures may be able to prevent violence long enough for Iraq's politicians to resolve these broader issues.
Notes: "Prepared for United States Forces-Iraq."

"National Defense Research Institute."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-25).

Also available online.
Table of contents: title: Introduction; title: Sources of Arab-Kurd conflict; title: Ongoing confidence-building measures; title: The strengths and limitations of CBMs; title: Potential CBMs for future implementation in Northern Iraq; title: Potential models : lessons learned from past experience with CBMs; title: Post-2011 transition; title: The bottom line : CBMs and continued U.S. engagement are necessary, but not enough.