This paper explores the current positionality of the Kurds vis-à-vis major natural resource assets as they have become central to the war with ISIS, and ensuing implications for Kurdish political futures. As Ahram (2014) has effectively pointed to, the role of oil and water as acquired assets has both enabled ISIS to become a formidable actor that has greatly disrupted the weak, albeit sovereign powers of the Iraq state, as well as expanded Kurdish political and economic resources vital to their realizing future political aspirations. This paper explores the centrality of regional and global geopolitical resource dynamics, and argues that resource acquisition remains a major factor in the making of Kurdish political power. Prospects for Kurdish maximization of that political power in a region riven by violent political conflict, and intense resource competition are critically assessed.