FLUX: International Relations Review Kurdish-controlled regions of Syria, the eruption of the Syrian Civil War prompted the establishment of new armed wings in the Kurdish armed forces (Szekely, Henshaw, and Darden 2019, 43). One of these units, a separate Women's Protection Unit (YPJ), was notoriously instrumental in the fight against ISIS and the protection of Kurdish territories during the 2010s. This military involvement is more than breaking a vital glass ceiling; women's involvement in militant groups can lead to more political roles. For example, the ruling PYD in Rojava has a rule that each political position must be held jointly by a man and a woman, significantly increasing the number of women in powerful, influential political positions. Moreover, in the PKK case, interview evidence has demonstrated that the presence of women in the PKK bolstered the organization's ideological focus on feminist ideals (49). Consequently, war circumstances may act as catalysts for stateless women to advance their rights, socio-political spaces and ultimately improve their status when there is infrastructure and institutions in place that are sensitive to specific gendered injustices (Gökalp 2010, 567). In other words, violent conflict that has historically plagued stateless populations, while horrific in and of itself, may offer an opportunity for feminist causes to advance and produce a "double revolution." However, given the broader Iraqi and Kurdish socio-political histories, the women of Iraqi Kurdistan have gone down a path of mixed 'double oppression' and "double revolution." Conclusion By analyzing three primary features of statelessness, nationalism, autonomous spaces, and violent conflict, it is evident that the status of Kurdish women is impacted by statelessness in numerous and complex ways. Statelessness does not automatically or universally harm or benefit women's rights; instead, characteristics of statelessness have the potential to reinforce patterns of oppression or women's empowerment. As demonstrated in this paper, the trajectory of the status of women is dependent mainly on pre16 existing histories and socio-political forces in the region at hand. In Syrian Kurdistan, women have primarily experienced 'double revolution' as a result of ideological predispositions, stable autonomous spaces, and the opportunity to dislodge the patriarchal status quo. Conversely, Iraqi Kurdistan epitomizes a case of 'double oppression' for Kurdish women as the population is constrained by internal political divisions, destabilizing outside interference, and debilitating violent conflict. It is important to note that there are countless other features of statelessness such as legal insecurity and post-traumatic impacts of forced displacement; these features were chosen due to their prominence in the existing literature and their broadly applicable nature in analysis. Those researching this topic in the future should consider other, less examined lenses and challenge the analyses of commonly considered perspectives. Even though the fight against ISIS has been on the decline for the last few years, Kurdish populations across the Middle East remain uniquely vulnerable to the turbulence of international and regional geopolitical dynamics. For example, US President Trump's decision to withdraw troops from Kurdish territory in October of 2019 left Kurdish populations vulnerable to hostile Turkish forces to the East and the lingering threat of ISIS to the West (Feith and Shulsky 2019). As a stateless population, Syrian Kurdish forces were essentially forced to make a deal with the Syrian government in Damascus. This deal paved the way for Syrian President Assad's forces to enter Rojava for the first time in years, sacrificing Kurdish lives and well-being in the process (Hubbard et al., 2019). Lastly, as discussed, women continue to be on the front lines, disproportionately shouldering the burdens that may come their way as both women and members of a stateless population. The world has yet to see how these changes and more may impact the trajectory of 'double oppressions' and 'double revolutions' in the 2020s. References BBC News. 2019. “Who are the Kurds?” October 15, 2019. Accessed 5 May 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle east-29702440. Bengio, Ofra. 2016. “Game Changers: Kurdish Women in Peace and War.” The Middle East Journal 70, no. 1: 30–46. DOI:10.3751/70.1.12. 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