The expansion of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant across northern Iraq in 2014 confronted the Kurdistan Region with one of the most serious political and security crises since the establishment of self-government in 1991. The fall of Mosul, the collapse of Iraqi government forces across large parts of northern Iraq and the rapid advance of ISIL created challenges that extended far beyond the battlefield. The Kurdish leadership was required simultaneously to defend the Region, respond to a massive humanitarian emergency, maintain the functioning of government institutions and secure international political and military support.
As Vice President of the Kurdistan Region, Kosrat Rasul was part of the senior leadership responsible for guiding the Region through this period. His role as a statesman centered on political coordination, institutional continuity and support for the Kurdish response at a time when the security of the Region itself was under direct threat.
The crisis also placed enormous pressure on relations between Erbil and Baghdad. The Kurdistan Regional Government had to navigate existing political disputes with the federal government while confronting an enemy that threatened both Kurdish and Iraqi territory. Kosrat Rasul supported cooperation against ISIL while continuing to advocate the political and constitutional interests of the Kurdistan Region within Iraq.
The war against ISIL transformed the Kurdistan Region's international position. As the Peshmerga became one of the principal forces resisting ISIL in northern Iraq, the Kurdish leadership intensified diplomatic and security engagement with the United States, European governments and other members of the international coalition.
International military assistance, training, humanitarian support and diplomatic engagement expanded significantly. For the Kurdistan Regional Government, maintaining these relationships became an essential political responsibility. Kosrat Rasul, as Vice President and one of the Region's most senior leaders, formed part of the political leadership representing and supporting the Kurdish position during this period.
The conflict gave the Kurdistan Region an international visibility that it had rarely possessed before. Kurdish officials increasingly engaged foreign governments not only on immediate security requirements but also on the Region's political position, humanitarian needs and longer-term relationship with Iraq and the international community.
The ISIL offensive also created an extraordinary humanitarian challenge. Large numbers of Yazidis, Christians and other displaced communities sought protection in the Kurdistan Region as ISIL captured territory across northern Iraq. The regional authorities were therefore required to respond not only as a government at war, but also as an administration responsible for absorbing and supporting a vast displaced population while already facing severe economic pressures.
For Kosrat Rasul and the wider Kurdish leadership, the period demonstrated that defending the Kurdistan Region required more than military resistance. It required functioning institutions, political coordination, international diplomacy and the ability to preserve stability during a regional crisis.
His statesmanship during the ISIL period is therefore best understood through his position within the political leadership that helped maintain the Kurdistan Region's institutions, strengthen international partnerships, support cooperation against ISIL and navigate the simultaneous security, humanitarian and political pressures created by the war.