Gunter, a political science professor at Tennessee Tech University, released The Kurds: A Modern History in October. The independent publisher, Markus Wiener, is based in Princeton, New Jersey.
The Kurds are America s most reliable allies in the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, said Gunter. This book gives an overview of the time from the early 20th century to today s conflicts with ISIS.
Most of the Kurdish ethnic group resides in the mountainous region where the countries of Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria converge. This area, often referred to as Kurdistan, or the land of the Kurds, is home to more than 30 million people.
Gunter s book contains chapters on early Kurdish history, the four states that make up Kurdistan, the United States and the Kurds and ISIS and the Kurds.
The 2013 growth of ISIS in Syria and Iraq led to sustained military conflict between these two groups. Western countries like the United States, France and the United Kingdom have since supported Kurdish forces with airstrikes, arms and surveillance.
Recent terrorist attacks and human rights abuses carried out by ISIS forces have formed calls for an escalation to this western intervention. Gunter says an understanding of the Kurdish people gives citizens a clear picture of how far they are willing to go in a fight against ISIS.
The Kurdish people are rational, said Gunter. They re only interested in fighting ISIS forces for historically Kurdish territory. Therefore, Western politicians and military leaders need to understand these people have little interest in being our sole boots on the ground for a venture into historically Arab land.
Early reviews of the book from scholars of the Middle East have praised its straightforward treatment of a complex political struggle.
To gain a firm understanding of other cultures, it helps to use history more than political science, said Gunter. I don t think you can get a firm grasp on the politics of other countries and people without a good understanding of their history.
To write the history, Gunter relied on numerous trips to the region and discussions with leading Kurdish political and academic figures. He has more than 30 years of scholarship combined on Kurdistan and the Kurdish people.
Gunter has authored nine books on the Kurds. His most recent, Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War, received coverage in the December issue of New York Review of Books. He received the Human Rights Watch s Service to the Kurds award in 1998.
To purchase the book, visit markuswiener.com/books/kurds-a-modern-history.
