Running head: KURDISH PESHMERGA
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Governance through the Kurdish Peshmerga
Aran Taha
Nawroz University
KURDISH PESHMERGA
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Table of Contents
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 4
2.
State of the Art ...................................................................................................................................... 4
2.1.
Success of the Kurdish Peshmerga ............................................................................................... 5
3.
Concrete Research Question ................................................................................................................. 7
4.
The Research Process............................................................................................................................ 8
5.
4.1.
Theories and Sensitizing Concepts ............................................................................................. 12
4.2.
Research Field, Data and Methods of Data Collection ............................................................... 13
4.3.
Data Analysis Method................................................................................................................. 16
4.4.
Timeline ...................................................................................................................................... 18
Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................... 19
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Abstract
Whereas the history of the Peshmerga is associated with the Hamidiya Cavalry, the origin of the
current Kurdish Peshmerga forces dates back to the second half of the 20th century when Mustafa Barzani
picked up arms to fight for the independence of Kurdistan. Barzani played a critical role in ensuring that
the Kurdish soldiers received exceptional offensive and defensive military training. As a matter of fact, he
employed the guerilla military technique to fight enemies. All the years, governance through the Kurdish
Peshmerga has been considered successful because of restoring peace in Iraq and Syria, partnering with
global forces, and its transition from being a militia to a regular army.
The journey of the Kurdish Peshmerga over the past century is sufficient prove that the
Peshmerga grew from being a group of local tribal and religious fighters to an army. In fact, the total
number of the Kurdish soldiers is 190,000 including the reservists. The current Kurdish forces have been
playing an essential role in the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. On the other hand, the decision made
by the Kurdish Peshmerga military forces to form an alliance with the US was a sign of good governance
as ISIS led areas have been rescued. The Kurdish forces are considered one of the most effective
America’s allies in the fight against ISIS. Through the US-led fight against ISIS, the Kurdish forces have
been able to get US air support as well as weapons. It also worth mentioning that the governance through
the Kurdish forces is considered successful as they have been on the front line to help in the restoration of
peace along the Syrian-Iraqi border. Therefore, other armies should emulate the Kurdish forces as they
have exhibited good governance over the years despite the mistakes made.
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1. Introduction
Governance is an action of governing an institution or organization (Fasenfest, 2010). In essence,
the aspect of good governance entails the process of making and implementing rational decisions. The
principle governance in the military is of concern as it helps armies in the management of conflicts and
peace building missions in warzone areas. Whereas the term governance is largely associated with
making rational decisions, governance through Kurdish-Peshmerga is critical to decisions made in
response to resolution of conflicts in Iraq and Syria. Considering that conflict among nations including
the West and Islamic States of Iraq (ISIS) has heightened, Kurdish-Peshmerga has played an essential role
in fighting terror groups in Iraq (Rowen, 2016). The study of governance through the Kurdish-Peshmerga
is an interesting topic as it relates to the current debates on the rise of terror groups in Iraq and Syria.
Whereas governance through Kurdish-Peshmerga has been a success because of restoring peace in Iraq
and Syria, partnership with global forces, and its transition from being local fighters to a regular army,
this paper largely focuses on the transition of the Kurdish Peshmerga from being a militia into a semi
regular army as well as its role in Iraqi Constitution.
2. State of the Art
In 2014, western nations loosely rushed to aid the Kurds in the face of fighting the Islamic States
of Iraq (ISIS), but they failed (CrisisgroupOrg). The main reason behind their failure was pegged on the
fact that they were not well organized. This is an indication of poor governance, especially through the
coordination with other forces on the ground. In addition to this, Western nations failed to develop a
strategy for handling the outcomes of arming non-state actors in Iraq, a nation where they had pledged to
offer support. As a matter of fact, Western nations were accelerating the destruction of the Kurdish
Peshmerga as a military organization. This increased tensions between the non-Kurds in conflicted areas,
prolonged the conflict with the IS, worsened other longstanding unresolved conflicts and created new
tensions. Western nations ultimately strengthened Iraq’s centrifugal forces. Despite the intervention of
Western nations, the Kurdish managed to be more independent despite forming alliances with Iran and
Turkey. It is in this backdrop that governance through the Kurdish-Peshmerga can be considered
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successful and professional compared to other military forces in the world. Following the failure of
Western nations to fight IS, Crisis Group Organization advocated a new approach to revive and build on
past efforts to transform the Kurdish-Peshmerga into a professional institution as it has demonstrated
good governance in the management of conflicts including terrorism.
2.1. Success of the Kurdish Peshmerga
The issues of unifying the Kurdish Peshmerga have been essential agendas in the Kurdish region
over the past two and half decades. This is largely because the Kurdish region has been a host of Iraq and
Syria’s refugees. The Kurds have managed to host many refuges as well as internally displaced persons
because of their experience of being refugees themselves as well as living without a state. All through
history, the Kurdish Peshmerga has been resilient despite being faced with war and terror, economic
crisis, as well as sacrificing many lives. The success of the Kurdish Peshmerga is pegged on rational
decisions made to combat terrorism especially the insurgence of the ISIS.
Kurdish Peshmerga has an official leadership structure as it is managed by the Peshmerga
ministry. The ministry of Peshmerga was formed as a joint body in 2010 in which the KDP and PUK are
the separate political parties governing the Kurds. Good governance has enabled the Kurdish Peshmerga
in Kurdistan-Iraq to shape the manner in which conflicts including terrorism are managed. In 2014, the
Islamic state launched attacks against key areas of Iraqi Kurdistan. Whereas the ISIS threat had
overwhelmed Peshmerga strategic positions, the counterattacks initiated by the Peshmerga in
collaboration with the U.S airstrikes halted ISIS from advancing. Since then, the Kurdish-Peshmerga
military has been among the most successful ground forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. As
a matter of fact, the Peshmerga’s rapid territorial success has repaired the longstanding mistrust between
the two primary political parties of the region, which are the PUK and KDP.
Considering that the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have managed to become the most successful
military in the world to defeat ISIS, it is undoubted that their decisions to combat terror groups are
rational. One of the reasons why governance through the Kurdish-Peshmerga has been a success is based
on the fact that the military forces played a critical role making the world safer from terrorism as well as
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restoring peace in Iraq. Kurdish Peshmerga provided protection for U.S. civilian and military personnel
who were deployed to fight ISIS in Iraqi. (Humud & Blanchard, 2016). The Kurdish Peshmerga has been
instrumental in securing areas that were abandoned by the Iraqi security forces during the ISIS invasion
(BBC, 2014). In Syria, ISIS has lost the control of its territory in the Northeast region near Aleppo to both
the Allied Arab forces and the Kurdish-Peshmerga (Humud & Blanchard, 2016). It is also worth
mentioning that as of mid-2016, strike offensive and defensive military operations carried out by the
Kurdish forces in Iraq had sought to weaken efforts of ISIS to remain in its strongholds in Syria.
Secondly, governance through the Kurdish-Peshmerga forces successful story is pegged on the
military’s efforts to achieve global cooperation which is facilitated through partnership or joint programs.
Kurdish Peshmerga has gained attention of the United States and other regional powers (Carter, 2016).
The U.S government has demonstrated efforts to partner with the Kurdish-Peshmerga. It is established
that as of June 2016, the U.S Government has successfully trained more than 23,700 Iraqis since late 2014
through the coalition programs (Humud & Blanchard, 2016). It is through governance of its affairs that
the U.S has gained confidence with the Kurdish forces. As a matter of fact, the U.S had provided support
to the Kurdish Peshmerga.
Notably, Humud and Blanchard (2016) suggest that as of January 2016, coalition partners had
deployed approximately 3,500 trainers and advisers for the Iraqi security forces. In addition, a report by
the BBC revealed that Iraqi army spokesman Qassim, asserted that the commander in chief of the armed
forces had issued orders to the leadership of their army's aviation units and the air forces to provide air
support to Peshmerga forces in 2014 (BBC, 2014). It is also worth mentioning that the Kurdish forces
have been able to form alliances with Turkey and Iran which is a good sign of international cooperation.
According to Crisis Group Organizatsion, the development of the professional Kurdish military forces
was a necessary and sufficiendt condition for effective cordination with the Baghdad government in joint
operations against ISIS as well as in the preparation of a post ISIS political plans.
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Finally, governance through Kurdish forces helps in their transition to become a regular army. In
the case of Kurdish Peshmerga, the forces evolved from being tribal defenders to nationalist fighters for
an independence of the Kurdish state (BBC, 2014).
3. Concrete Research Question
The main question of the study is; did the Kurdish Peshmerga achieve its success through good
governance? In answering the above question, it is essential to note that all through the years, the Kurdish
military forces have exhibited excellent governance despite constant resistance from political armies.
Ever since the forces gained de facto autonomy in 1991 from the administration of Saddam Hussein, the
issue of unifying the military forces has been a priority in Kurdish region national agenda. In order to
unite the Kurdish forces successfully, different wars were pursued using the guerilla technique in 1970s
and 1980s. Notably, the use of guerilla methods of fighting was the hallmark of the Kurdish force
demonstrating its levels of governance.
Whereas the empowerment of the Kurdish forces has been pursued at the expense of local Arab
population, there have been risks for establishing a foundation for future ethnic conflicts in Syria and Iraq.
Nevertheless, over the past few years, the Kurdish forces have advanced in some of the disputed areas
including northern Iraq and Syria. The fighters have also gained support from super power nations such as
the United States, and some members of the European Union especially Germany. In relation to the
above, the first sub question of this study is as follows. Is Kurds partnership with external forces a sign of
good governance? The answer to the question above underpins the need to know whether the decision
made by the Kurdish Peshmerga to partner with US was the best decision. Martin and Kozak (2016)
argued that the America overstepped its mandate in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham
(ISIS) as the nation is also considered a threat to long-term success of the anti-ISIS efforts. However, the
US led anti-ISIS partnership with the Kurds enabled them to seize large areas from the control of ISIS in
2015, including almost the entire Turkish-Syrian border as well as the key terrain in the vicinity of Mosul.
The Kurds have been able to triumph in the fight against ISIS because their coalition with US has
KURDISH PESHMERGA
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supported them with weapons, air support, and advisory service. As a matter of fact, the Kurdish forces
are America’s most effective ally in the fight against ISIS. Therefore, the decision made Kurdish
Peshmerga military forces to form an alliance with the US was a sign of good governance as ISIS led
areas were rescued hence the answer to the sub question falls within the framework of the main research
question.
On the other hand, the second sub question of the study is as follows. If the Kurdish has been
successful, has it helped in the restoration of peace in Iraq and Syria? The answer to this sub question is
yes. This is because efforts of the Kurds are bound help in not only finishing ISIS in the short run but also
achieving regional stability in the long run. As the Kurds continue to cover territories, the Sunni Arab
populations who would have supported and sustained ISIS are alienated. In so doing, peace is restored in
the disputed regions. With this in mind, the answer to this sub question is within the framework of the
main research question as if the Kurds become helps in restoring peace, their efforts are considered
successful hence it is plausible to ascertain that the Kurdish forces are a good example of a military that
has demonstrated good governance.
4. The Research Process
In this section, the information provided will prove that governance through the Kurdish
Peshmerga has been a success because, it has played a critical role in the Iraqi constitution, and managed
to changeover and become armed forces. In performing research on this topic, the researcher will be
conducting online research to collect information concerning the Kurdish Peshmerga. Those online
sources are published journal articles or newspaper articles which are credible and relevant. It is from
those sources that researcher has been able to evaluate the origin of the Kurds, and their role in the Iraqi
constitution. In addition, the researcher is living and teaching in Kurdistan-Iraq, since August 2014 and
had direct contacts with the Peshmargas and other state officers.
The term Peshmerga means those who face death (Frantzman , 2016). The roots of the Kurdish
Peshmerga are associated with the Hamidiya Cavalry, which was created by Ottoman Sultan Abd al
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Hamid II in 1891 as a combined force of the Kurdish tribal fighters and the Turkish government. The
main purpose of the Hamidiya Cavalry was to defend the Cossack Region from the Russians. Moreover,
the combined forces were responsible for the decimation of potential cooperation between the Armenians
and the Kurds. It is also worth noting that the Ottoman Empire used the Hamidiya Cavalry to suppress
Armenian revolts in Eastern Anatolia. The Hamidiya Cavalry was, however, disbanded in 1908 after the
overthrow of Sultan Abd al Hamid (Lortz, 2005). It is established that when the history of Hamidiya
Cavalry was written, its involvement in tribal feuds was considered as one of the darkest stains. The most
notable aspect about the Kurdish forces during the Hamidiya Cavalry was that the fighters were able to
acquire knowledge of military technology and equipment as well as the capabilities to use it. Many
soldiers who led the Hamidiya Cavalry also played similar roles during the Kurdish uprisings and greatly
influenced the future of the Kurdish military organization.
During the First World War, the British and the Kurds used the Kurdish tribes to fuel cross border
conflicts. In response to that, local Shaykh’s appointed some of the Kurds to rebel against regional
powers. Tribal fighters from Iraq and Iran allied themselves quickly and joined Shaykh Mahmud who
greatly opposed the British rule (Lortz, 2005). It is also worth mentioning that prior to the year 1943; the
Kurdish fighters actively participated in various regional uprisings against the national governments of
Iraq, Turkey and Iran. Kuchgiri rebellion of 1920 was perhaps one of the most notable uprisings as the
Kurdish fighters struggled so hard for autonomy coupled with the fact that they were able to seize
numerous Turkish supplies and arms. Based on the above, it can be ascertained that the origin of
Peshmerga forces can be traced back to the early attempts of the Ottoman Empire to create an organized
Turkish-Kurdish military force.
However, the existence of the current Kurdish Peshmerga fighters’ dates back to the second half
of the 20th century when Mustafa Barzani picked up arms to fight for the independence of Kurdistan
(Carter, 2016). Notably, Mustafa Barzani was the commanding officer of the Barzani fighters when
conflicts between the Iraqi forces and the Barzanis began in 1931 (Lortz, 2005). He gained prominence as
he revolted against the Iraqi forces who were seeking assistance from the British Royal Air Forces and the
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British commanders. Mustafa demonstrated impressive abilities including the exceptional defensive and
offensive military superiority, which boosted the morale of the fighters. In the process, the fighters gained
confidence coupled with the fact that they pledged allegiance to his leadership. It is during this time that
the Kurdish forces started being an organized military.
All through the years, the growth of Peshmerga forces has garnered international recognition due
to its governance. The success of governance through the Peshmerga army is pegged on the Guerrilla
military strategy (Knights, 2015). Also, Carter (2016), suggest that the tradition of guerrilla resistance
force utilized to fight for the independence of the Kurdish was linked to the formal training that Mustafa
offered the Kurdish fighters when he became the commanding officer.
Moreover, the Kurdish forces are made up of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which are power sharing political parties. The genesis of these
political parties to command the Kurdish military forces was attributed to the failing health of Mustafa
Barzani. The two political parties started to run the Kurdish forces in 1975. It is established that KDP
alone had approximately 15,000 to 25,000 Peshmerga soldiers in 1992. On the other hand, PUK had a
smaller number of soldiers of about 18,000 fighters. By 2007, the number of Peshmerga fighters had
grown to approximately 120,000 soldiers excluding 70,000 reservists (Wilgenburg & Fumerton, 2016).
This is an indication that the Kurdish Peshmerga has grown over the years from a small group of fighters
to become an army that is capable of taking control of a government. The rationale for the above
suggestion is pegged on the fact that in 2005, the leadership of the Peshmerga took a step forward when
the founder of PUK, Jalal Talabani, was elected the president of Iraq (Lortz, 2005).
The journey of the Kurdish Peshmerga over the past century can be considered successful as it
enabled the force to transform from being a group of tribal and religious fighters to an army. In fact, after
many years of struggle, the Kurdish Peshmerga forces were rewarded heavily as they were included in the
new government of Iraq. Politically, members of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces are considered as only
alternative for revitalizing the Kurdish liberal movement and in the process, giving hope to the Kurdish
people. Socially, the Peshmerga have become champions just like the “guards” of pre-Biblical times.
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With this in mind, Mulla Mustafa Barzani is considered as the most prominent person in the history of the
Peshmerga (Lortz, 2005). He is still highly well-regarded as the “George Washington of Kurdistan” and
his influence cannot be underrated when recounting the history of the Peshmerga.
Peshmerga being an important part of the society in the Kurdish community, their legal status is
recognized. The Iraq community embraces the Kurdish Peshmerga forces as agents of maintaining
internal security. However, the formation of the Kurdish Peshmerga forces is beyond the framework of
governing armed forces, which is illegal and prohibited, as the Ministry of Defence has no authority over
the Kurdish armed forces. Recently, UK approved requests by the Kurdish government for arms.
However, the Kurdish forces have not submitted any request so far. Many nations are willing to offer
assistance to the Kurdish government to save the current situation. For instance, the European Union
through the council of the foreign affairs is looking forward to hold a meeting to address the ISIS
insurgence (Jawad, 2013). France and the United States governments have already started to supply
weapons to the Kurdish government.
Although the Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been helpful to the Iraqi community, the legality of
its existence is still debatable. For instance, the Iraq constitution stipulates that the Ministry of Defense
must have authority over the armed forces. In Article 9B, it is stated that there should be no Kurdish
Peshmerga groups in the Iraq government. Due to the ambiguity of legality of the Kurdish forces, there
have been several debates arguing whether or not the supply of arms from the UK government to the
Kurdish forces is legal. In essence, the UK government considers the supply the fire arms as illegal. The
supply of arms was limited in the UK as legislators opposed the idea to do so. However, UK intelligence
team has considered giving out arms as gifts.
On the other hand, America‘s infiltration in the formation of the Iraq constitution and
administration has been linked to the lack of stable and democratic Iraq government. The need for the
amendment of constitution in order to maintain stability in Iraq has been critical (Ben Smith, 2014).
However, due to the underlying confusion in the division of the drafting the constitution, damaging
KURDISH PESHMERGA
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problems to the law have been developed. Most of the sensitive parts of the constitution have triggered
doubts especially on the role of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq.
Several strategies have been formed with the aim to correct the mistakes made when forming the
Iraq constitution. However, the Kurdish Regional Government has refused to make constitutional
amendments. Circumventing those amendments could be harmful. As such, Iraq’s constitutional revisions
are highly essential. In addition, the endorsement of the Kurdish Regional Government as an independent
state has been avoided. Notably, the Kurdish forces and the government have joined hands to fight and
suppress violations that had infringed rights to speech and the movement. Considering that Iraq drafted its
constitution in a hurry, which resulted in errors and inadequacies, interference of an external body could
diagnose their constitutional challenges.
4.1. Theories and Sensitizing Concepts
There have been forth many projects for peace building and ensuring that there is a civil society
in the Iraq community. However, these efforts have been rendered unsuccessful due to unresolved
conflicts there have been consistent conflicts throughout in the Iraq Kurdistan history. Among the most
sensitizing elements and concept is the precedent terrorism, the ISIS group and Al-Qaeda other details
will be inclusive of the research. One of the sensitizing concepts is that the Western nations have lost
hope hence the cancelled efforts to offer help in peace building missions. It is for this reason and need for
stabilization that a nation has to configure mechanisms to ensure peace establishment so that it can rebuild
on its past strong cultural and integrated nation.
Al-Qaida groups have probed resistance and tension in states like Syria and consequently have
caused Iraq to become more resilient. Due to the resistance of the Western Iraq groups, the government
has stayed in fear of the return of civil which caused a lot of damage to property and human life. It is for
this reason the government has accommodate some of this unreliable and unaccepted grouped in fear of
reviving past memories of civil wars. Al-Qaida’s has on a great level probed a challenge to the Kurdistan
government as it has threatened through several attacks of the same. As a result, the Kurdish security
KURDISH PESHMERGA
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system has been improved though it does not imply that the Al-Qaida’s have been eliminated. In fact, the
insurgency of ISIS has been an issue of concern.
Reports show that 500 ISIS fighters participated in fights in Kirkuk Province, which resulted in 6
deaths coupled with the fact that 70 people were injured on the same attack (John, 2015). It was a
retaliation attack because the Al-Qaida’s thought that the Kurdish President was against them. However,
the Kurdish government was willing to offer joint security. It is for this reason that security enhancement
has always been a big challenge in Iraq (Johns, 2015). It is informing to acknowledge that the lack of
internal coordination of authorities in Iraq is capable of stopping peace keeping missions.
Terrorism has also been among the worrying factors that needed to be addressed to ensure that
Iraq becomes successful in finding the desired peace and stability. Many of the terrorisms attacks both in
Iraq, in the Western nations and in the world at general, have mainly been associated with the Islamic
groups mainly the ISIS and the Al-Qaeda groups which raised concerns of both the Iraq and other nations
as well. In the United States, they have put forth a lot of effort to fight the same because terrorism
threatens the life and property security of the citizens (Erdis, 2006). The efforts to fight terrorism for both
the Islamic and ant-Muslims have been put forth by the United States and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces.
It has already established a Foreign Terrorist Organization. Furthermore, the Kurds has requested help
from Russians in fighting the ISIS in support of the Peshmerga.
The Kurdish counter terrorism group proved to be highly useful in finding and fighting terrorists
who were mainly associated with the ISIS group. Some of the sensitizing concepts as shown above have
drawn a critical challenge in which there is need for them to be addressed so that the Government of Iraq
can be stabilized hence the restoration of peace in the region. Some of these elements have attributed to
economic breakdown of the nation and the social integration of the nation at general. Peace is an
important variable in pursuit of economic and political success of a nation.
4.2. Research Field, Data and Methods of Data Collection
For the purpose of evaluating the topic of governance through the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, the
researcher will focus on primary and secondary research fields. In regards to primary research, a group of
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target respondents will be the main source of data or information. In the study, the respondents will be
experts, ministers, directors, members of the Peshmerga fighters who have experience in the fight against
ISIS, local politicians as well as political scientists. The information gathered at this phase will be ideal
for evaluating the current situation of the Peshmerga fighters. Also, the information gathered from these
respondents will be ideal for gaining varied perceptions of the most effective strategies that the Kurdish
fighters can utilize in the fight against ISIS as well as in the restoration of peace in Syria and Iraq.
Notably, qualitative method of data collection will be employed. It entails the use of either openended interviews or semi-structured guides to explore and understand the attitudes, opinions and feelings
of key informants and key stakeholders toward the topic of discussion, which is governance through the
Kurdish Peshmerga military forces. The technique that will be utilized for collection of qualitative data/
information from the respondents will be In-Depth Interviews (IDIs). As such, ministers, directors,
members of the Peshmerga fighters who have experience in the fight against ISIS local politicians as well
as political scientists will be interviewed. Use of personal interviews as a qualitative technique for
gathering information will be effective as opposed to the use of focus group discussions because some of
the respondents would probably get time to attend the focus group discussions. Most of them including
ministers and politicians are holders of top positions in the government. In addition, the other respondents
are leaders in the local community. With this in mind, it will be ideal to do personal interviews with them.
Interviews will take about 30-45 minutes and the interviewer intends to gain insights of the current issues
of governance of the Kurdish Peshmerga as well as the respondents’ opinions concerning the way forward
in the fight against ISIS. Below is a breakdown of the sampled respondents.
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Category
Target Respondents
Methodology
Sample
Size
Political Leaders
Ministers, Local Politicians
In-Depth Interviews (IDIs)
8
Experienced Peshmerga
Fighters
Military Experts, Directors,
and Political Scientist.
In-Depth Interviews (IDIs)
Soldiers
Key Informants
Total
In-Depth Interviews (IDIs)
In-Depth Interviews (IDIs)
10
12
30
Duration
of the
Interviews
30-45 mins
each
30-45 mins
each
30-45 mins
each
900-1,350
minutes
Table 1: Sample Definition
However, there will be some limitations associated with this technique of data collection. One of
the main challenges will be accessing the respondents. They are busy people and in most cases, they are
normally out of the country doing international assignments.
On the other hand, secondary research entails the use of published sources including journal
articles, books encyclopedias, and newspaper articles to collect data or information (Learn marketing,
n.d). These sources are essential as they will provide relevant information including background
information of the Peshmerga, the alliances with the US as well as the transition from being a local group
of fighters to an army. The data will be collected through desk research methodology. In essence, as the
names “desk research” suggest, this method is related to a researcher sitting at a desk with the aim to
search for content online (Management Study Guide, n.d). In the process, the researcher will look up for
publications, journals, websites, as well as annual reports to search the required information when
studying about a particular topic.
Online research has been helpful in the preparation of the main expose because there is plenty
information available on the internet. As such, online searches to get the history and success of the
Kurdish Peshmerga forces have shown that numerous pages on the internet can be trusted. This is one of
the simplest methods of researching about specific information/data as the researcher browses the
information he or she needs from various websites. It is facilitated by search engines such as Google.
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Whereas using desk research is productive, it has some limitation thus may not necessarily
provide the information sought in the study. One of the limitations is that use of online sources may not
give timely and correct information (Anonymous, 2008). As a researcher, it is easy to notice that some
sources differ in terms of the information they provide concerning a particular search. For instance,
different sources may provide information which is out of date or have no relevance to the current
situation of the Peshmerga. Secondly, the aspect of getting incomplete information is a limitation toward
the use of desk research as method of gathering information. This is because online research may not give
full version of research to fulfill the expectations of the study (Anonymous, 2008). Finding incomplete
information is a limitation as some providers of data or information may give reliable data which is not
offered for free. In fact, they charge expensive fees to get full access to their reports. Thirdly, online
research may not be specific to the needs of the researcher. In essence, secondary data and information
may not be presented in a way that satisfies the needs of the researcher’s (Anonymous, 2008). As such, it
is highly recommendable for researchers to use secondary sources of information that are presented and
aligned in a manner that directly relates to the topic.
Fourthly, online source of information may not give quality and reliable data or information. As a
matter of fact, the originality of information or data is largely controlled by the owner. Therefore, online
sources of information have to be examined thoroughly as the origin of the information sought after could
be highly questionable. More importantly, this limitation is a reminder for researchers to critically assess
and evaluate the validity and reliability of the information obtained from some of the online sources.
Fifthly, use of online source is unpredictable. This is because information found in the online
platform is updated regularly hence the outcome of desk research cannot be certain. As a consequence,
the researcher may deliver a scant report at the end of the project claiming that despite doing a thorough
search, there were no substantial materials found on the internet concerning governance through the
Peshmerga.
4.3. Data Analysis Method
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Information collected from the respondents will be filtered. Filtering raw data including interview
transcripts entails categorizing opinions according to a particular set of themes. In this case, producing
categories and themes of the raw data collected from the interviews will be facilitated through the use of
QDA software. However, manual grouping of themes and subthemes might be employed if the QDA
software is not available. After analyzing the data, the output will be presented through case summaries
and data displays including descriptive matrices. Last but not least, the analyzed data will be combined
with the secondary information gathered from publications. For instance, the information concerning the
Peshmerga alliance with the US which is collected from published sources will be written down first then
the analyzed opinions from the respondents concerning the same sub-topic will be included. In so doing, a
combining data from published sources and interviews in each topic will help to create a coherent thesis
report.
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4.4. Timeline
Activity
Weeks
1
Submission of the masters’ thesis expose
Preparation of literature review
Preparation of interview questions
Conducting interviews (3 every week)
Unavoidable circumstances
Empirical phase (data filtering and analysis)
Presentation of the draft report
Amending the draft report
Submission of the final report
Table 2: Timeline
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
16 17 18 19 20
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5. Bibliography
Martin, P., & Kozak, C. (2016). The pitfalls of relying on Kurdish forces to counter ISIS. Backgrounder,
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