Åsa Lundgren explores Turkish policy towards northern Iraq from the beginning of the 1990s to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and draws important conclusions about the relation between nation-building and foreign policy.

Nation-building and foreign policy -- Defining and defending the Turkish nation -- Kurdish identity in the Turkish Republic -- Nation-building and discourse on danger -- Enabling and thwartingde facto Kurdish statehood -- After the invasion -- Conclusions.