The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Shwan Jamal Azeez, Associate Professor in the Social Sciences Department, has published a peer-reviewed article in the highly regarded journal The Extractive Industries and Society (Elsevier). The journal is ranked in Q1 on Scopus, with an Impact Factor of 4.3 and a CiteScore of 7.7, reflecting its strong academic influence and global readership.

Dr. Azeez’s article, titled “Oil Governance and Institutional Development in De Facto States: A Comparative Study of the Kurdistan Regional Government and Rojava,” investigates why two structurally comparable de facto states have followed markedly different trajectories in the development of their oil sectors.

Drawing on expert interviews and employing a Most Similar Systems Design, the research demonstrates that factors such as patron-state support, parent-state constraints, and security environments are critical in shaping outcomes. While the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) succeeded in establishing a functional oil governance system, Rojava faced significant challenges due to fragmented external support, strong parent-state resistance, and persistent security threats.

This study makes a significant contribution to scholarly debates on state-building, natural resource governance, and political development in conflict-affected regions, further highlighting AUIS’s growing impact in advancing high-quality academic research.