Is Sykes-Picot still relevant?
WASHINGTON DC – Today marks the 100th anniversary of an international agreement, a deal widely blamed for much of the bloodshed we have witnessed in the Middle East over the past century.
The secret Sykes-Picot agreement was ratified on May 16, 1916, by European imperial powers to divide up the Middle East to fit their interests, showing little regard for the existing populations.
Perhaps most criticized is the long-standing impact the agreement left on as many as 30 million Kurds. It deprived them of the modern right for an independent nation-state, a goal for which they have fought and died ever since.
A century later, where do Sykes-Picot borders stand? They have all but disappeared, thanks to the speedy rise of a terror group known as the Islamic State, which has controlled large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory to fulfill its dream of restoring a pre-modern, non-territorial Muslim caliphate.
This is a cause for celebration among the Kurds, even as they are engaged in a brutal bloody war against ISIS. The time seems to be finally here for the Kurds to declare independence, many experts argue.
To examine the impacts of the Sykes-Picot agreement and what might replace it in the months and years to come, Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla is joined by:
Lawrence J. Korb, a former US Assistant Secretary of Defense, currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Phillip Lohaus , defense and national security analyst with The American Enterprise Institute. While in government, Lohaus focused on Middle East non-proliferation and economic security issues and served in both strategic and tactical assignments in support of the US military abroad.
The secret Sykes-Picot agreement was ratified on May 16, 1916, by European imperial powers to divide up the Middle East to fit their interests, showing little regard for the existing populations.
Perhaps most criticized is the long-standing impact the agreement left on as many as 30 million Kurds. It deprived them of the modern right for an independent nation-state, a goal for which they have fought and died ever since.
A century later, where do Sykes-Picot borders stand? They have all but disappeared, thanks to the speedy rise of a terror group known as the Islamic State, which has controlled large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory to fulfill its dream of restoring a pre-modern, non-territorial Muslim caliphate.
This is a cause for celebration among the Kurds, even as they are engaged in a brutal bloody war against ISIS. The time seems to be finally here for the Kurds to declare independence, many experts argue.
To examine the impacts of the Sykes-Picot agreement and what might replace it in the months and years to come, Rudaw’s Namo Abdulla is joined by:
Lawrence J. Korb, a former US Assistant Secretary of Defense, currently a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Phillip Lohaus , defense and national security analyst with The American Enterprise Institute. While in government, Lohaus focused on Middle East non-proliferation and economic security issues and served in both strategic and tactical assignments in support of the US military abroad.