In this episode, we provide some context to the U.S.-Kurdish relationship, exploring the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East and its impact on Jiyan Foundation’s mission to provide mental health treatment and humanitarian assistance to people in the region.

Our guest, Ozum Yesiltas, received her Ph.D. in International Relations from Florida International University in 2014. She also holds a B.A. in Sociology and an M.S. in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. Her dissertation titled “Rethinking the National Question: Anti-Statist Discourses within the Kurdish National Movement” is a comparative study of the impact of the Kurdish movement on the internal policy debates on human rights and democratization in Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Dr. Yesiltas joined the faculty at Texas A&M University-Commerce in 2017, where she teaches International Relations and Comparative Politics courses with a regional focus on the Middle East.

Dr. Yesiltas’ research interests involve ethnic conflict and democratization in the Middle East, particularly focusing on the Kurdish Question. Her recent work focuses on the Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Feminist Revolution in Syrian Kurdistan. She is currently working on a project investigating the U.S. Foreign Policy toward the Kurds in post-ISIS Iraq and Syria funded by the American Political Science Association.

Her most recent book Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship, explores the growing influence of Middle Eastern non-state actors as agents of foreign policy through an analysis of the U.S.-Kurdish relationship.

The views and opinions expressed in this interview do not reflect those of Jiyan Foundation for Human Rights.

Get the book: Rethinking State-Non-State Alliances: Change and Continuity in the U.S.-Kurdish Relationship (rowman.com)

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Jiyan Foundation PodcastBy Jiyan Foundation USMay 29, 2023