Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- September 21, 2017

A Kurdish nationalist euphoria has swept Iraqi Kurdistan ahead of a referendum Monday on independence from Iraq. Raucous, flag-waving rallies have become regular events in cities like Erbil, the region’s capital. Credit Safin Hamed/Agence France-Presse

Rebecca Richards, The Independent: The Catalans and Kurds might soon vote for independence. This is how a country becomes a country

Recognition of a new state essentially means legally recognising the transfer of sovereignty over a territory from one authority to another. But an international body, including the UN, cannot just take away territory without the permission of the original 'host' state

Within the space of a week this autumn, the people of Catalonia and Kurdistan will be asked if they want to live in an independent country. If these two referendums result in declarations of independence, what happens next? It may seem straightforward that Kurdistan, Catalonia, or even both would become the world’s newest countries. But it’s not that simple.

International law states that people have the right to determine their own destiny, including political status. Our right of self-determination is enshrined in the UN Charter, and clarified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- September 21, 2017

Regional implications of the Kurdish independence vote -- Ranj Alaaldin, Al Jazeera

Why is Turkey so disjointed over the Iraqi Kurds? -- Merve Tahiroglu and Aykan Erdemir, Washington Post

Why do journalists love Kurdistan so much? -- Stephen Brent, New Arab

The Kurds -- Donna Abu-Nasr, Bloomberg

Gulf Crisis Still Smolders As Washington Searches for Options -- Bennett Seftel, The Cipher Brief

Why Trump won't 'totally destroy' North Korea -- Wesley Rahn, DW

Actually, Promising to Destroy North Korea is Nothing New -- Ankit Panda, Defense One/The Atlantic

A purge too far in Vietnam? -- David Hutt, Asia Times

New Zealand's Election: Winds of Change -- Robert Ayson, Lowy Institute

This new Tory Brexit battle will be the bloodiest of all -- James Forsyth, The Spectator

Why do some Catalans want independence and what is Spain's view? -- Sam Jones, The Guardian

Brute isolation: Trump and the art of unraveling the Iran deal -- Pepe Escobar, Asia Times

Ideas aren’t running out, but they are getting more expensive to find -- Nicholas Bloom, Chad Jones, John Van Reenen, Michael Webb, VOX.eu

Artificial intelligence — the arms race we may not be able to control -- Mike Rogers, The Hill

Nuclear weapons: Who are the world's haves and have nots? -- Christoph Hasselbach, DW