De facto states engagement with parent states: Kurdistan's engagement with the Iraqi Government

Despite the growing interest in the phenomenon of engagement without recognition within de facto state literature, the concept remains under-analysed. Through an analysis of Kurdistan's engagement with the Iraqi government, this article aims to answer the following questions: What are the de facto state's authorities' policies of engagement with parent states? And how does internal political rivalry affect the policies of engagement with parent state? The study highlights the importance of a de facto state's internal political rivalry in the question of engagement with a parent state, a point on which the literature has not paid enough attention. The portrayal of Baghdad among the Kurds, which is instrumental in the relationship between Kurdistan and the Iraqi government, is heavily partisan. As the dynamics of the political rivalry between Kurdistan's two main centres of power change, the image of Baghdad among the Kurds as a source of threat or opportunity is also altered.