The Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed de facto statehood in the north of Iraq since the early 1990s but it has not been an easy period. Intra-Kurdish fighting, military incursions by Turkey and Iran and the ever constant threat posed by Saddam Hussein have plagued this democratic experiment. However, since 1997, an administrative system has developed and stability seems to have returned to the region, in spite of the ever-present problems. This book explores the development of the Kurdish political system since 1991. It examines the difficult and often violent relations between the two dominant powers, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and their relationship with the Kurdish Regional Government in order to understand the current state of Iraqi Kurdish politics and the means by which the de facto state operates. At a time when Iraq is increasingly prominent in foreign affairs, and the Kurds are often highlighted as potential agents of change, this in-depth study identifies the main dynamics of Iraqi Kurdish politics, analyses the record and potential of the Kurdish democratic experiment, and identifies the present and future Kurdish leaders.