Anne Sofie Schøtt

Strategic Field of National Security.

The presentation was given at the conference 'Strategic Field of National Security' in Baghdad 8 December 2021. The conference was organised in cooperation between the Center for Stabilization at the Royal Danish Defence College and the Strategic Studies Research Center at the Defense University for Higher Military Studies. 

Abstract

The presentation examines the strategies and actions of Kurdish diaspora groups in support of the Kurds in Syria and identifies three main arenas for the Kurdish transnational activism: the political, the judicial and the humanitarian. By analysing the mobilisation of the Kurdish activism in support of homeland actors, the presentation argues that Kurds were motivated by various factors. For some, the struggle and suffering of fellow Kurds made theme engage. For others the urge to act based on ethnic kinship was topped with political affiliation with either of the political projects of the rivalling autonomous Kurdish regions in Syria and Iraq. This presentation adds new insights to our knowledge on why and how transnational actors intervene in intra-state conflict. 

Finally, the presentation will highlight how research methodologies can be used to collect and analyse data. The presentation will focus on social movement theory and ethnographic fieldwork based on her PhD thesis about Kurdish activists and organisations.