The Role of Hydrocarbons on the Political Status of KRG

Since the end of the Cold-War, many de facto-states have come into existence after 1990s. Many of them gained international recognition as sovereign legitimate states but others remained as de facto-statehood without recognition. The Kurdistan Regional Government-Iraq (KRG) is among these de facto-states with a government and military capability established since 1991. Throughout this period, the KRG has tried to build pillars of a sovereign state without officially declaring independence. The KRG as a de facto-state is the outcome of external intervention in Iraq on the consequences of Gulf war in 1990 that led to withdraw Iraqi military forces from the Kurdistan region. This argument is based on the implications of exploitation hydrocarbons on the foreign relations of the KRG in post-2003 Iraq. The significances of exploring natural resources in Kurdistan region is quite important and affected the legitimacy of the KRG among the international community. The Kurdistan Government is sitting on a large amount of hydrocarbon resources that could be enough for a de facto-state to break the traditional boundaries of sovereignty and mutual recognition. The term functional government has been strongly linked with economic power of a state, and it could be sufficient to pave the way for expanding further political power. This study would argue that the KRG is able to influence the political sensitivities towards the Kurds movement in the Middle East positively by taking advantages of the economic tools they are obtaining.