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In the past month, there has been a string of bombings and sectarian violence in Iraq. Despite this recent flare-up, the Sunni-Shi'ite divide is mending. However, peace will continue to be fragile. Territorial disputes involving the provinces of Nineveh, Diyala, and oil-rich Kirkuk are enhancing tensions between the Arabs and the Kurds.
Kurdistan is the semi-autonomous three-province Kurdish region in northern Iraq, officially demarcated by George H. W. Bush's "no-fly zone" in 1991. Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Kurds have associated themselves with adjacent provinces populated by Iraq's Arab majority, claiming that the land once belonged to them. The size of Kurdistan has in fact expanded by nearly 20% since 2003.
The peshmerga, Kurdish paramilitary forces, continue to push beyond the UN-delineated border. They answer to Kurdistan's regional government, but many Iraqis believe the pershmerga are not a "legitimate" government force because they do not follow the same command as the Iraqi Security Forces, even though they often work side-by-side.
The "democratic" government of Baghdad has been at a standstill regarding the Kurdish question. Kurds favor some form of federalism, but Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants to centralize the government and strengthen Baghdad. Legislation to regulate the country's oil resources (such as Kirkuk) and distribute wealth has stalled in Parliament for two years.
* Abouzeid, Rania. "Arab-Kurd Tensions Could Threaten Iraq's Peace" TIME 24 Mar 2009.
* Druzin, Heath. "Bloodied by History, Kurds Fret Over Uncertain Future" Stars and Stripes 22 Mar 2009.
* Hauslohner, Abigail. "Iraq's Election Fuels Tension on Kurdish Fault Line" TIME 28 Jan 2009.
* Butters, Andrew. "Kurdistan: Iraq's Next Battleground? TIME 12 Apr 2007.
* Butters, Andrew. "Trouble in Kurdistan" TIME 17 Mar 2006.
* O'Leary, Carole. "The Kurds of Iraq: Recent History, Future Prospects" Middle East Review of International Affairs Vol 6, No 4. Dec 2002.
Kurdistan is the semi-autonomous three-province Kurdish region in northern Iraq, officially demarcated by George H. W. Bush's "no-fly zone" in 1991. Since the toppling of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the Kurds have associated themselves with adjacent provinces populated by Iraq's Arab majority, claiming that the land once belonged to them. The size of Kurdistan has in fact expanded by nearly 20% since 2003.
The peshmerga, Kurdish paramilitary forces, continue to push beyond the UN-delineated border. They answer to Kurdistan's regional government, but many Iraqis believe the pershmerga are not a "legitimate" government force because they do not follow the same command as the Iraqi Security Forces, even though they often work side-by-side.
The "democratic" government of Baghdad has been at a standstill regarding the Kurdish question. Kurds favor some form of federalism, but Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki wants to centralize the government and strengthen Baghdad. Legislation to regulate the country's oil resources (such as Kirkuk) and distribute wealth has stalled in Parliament for two years.
* Abouzeid, Rania. "Arab-Kurd Tensions Could Threaten Iraq's Peace" TIME 24 Mar 2009.
* Druzin, Heath. "Bloodied by History, Kurds Fret Over Uncertain Future" Stars and Stripes 22 Mar 2009.
* Hauslohner, Abigail. "Iraq's Election Fuels Tension on Kurdish Fault Line" TIME 28 Jan 2009.
* Butters, Andrew. "Kurdistan: Iraq's Next Battleground? TIME 12 Apr 2007.
* Butters, Andrew. "Trouble in Kurdistan" TIME 17 Mar 2006.
* O'Leary, Carole. "The Kurds of Iraq: Recent History, Future Prospects" Middle East Review of International Affairs Vol 6, No 4. Dec 2002.