The National Alliance (NA), a merger of major Shi’ite blocs, announced on Friday that it would designate Maliki for a second consecutive term. If the nomination proceeds as planned, this would prove a major breakthrough in a seven-month political impasse since a March 7 election failed to produce a clear winner.
Still, Maliki’s political endurance hangs on the support of the Kurdish faction. The Kurds, whose support would ultimately give Maliki the seats he needs for a governing majority, said they would push requirements that have often put them at odds with the central government in Baghdad, including the right to negotiate favorable oilfield contracts.
Iraqi Kurdish Youth at a protest in Erbil
The semi-autonomous Kurdish region has had touchy relations with the central Iraqi government, primarily over disputed land and oil. U.S. military officials are concerned that the disagreements could kindle the country’s next major conflict. Sectarian violence has been on the rise as Washington prepares to pull out all U.S. forces by the end 2011.
A dispute between the Kurds and Baghdad froze oil exports from the region last year. As of today, they remain suspended. The regional government signed contracts with foreign oil companies for the development of fields in its territory that Baghdad views as illegal.
Typical of any and all Iraqi governance, negotiations with the Kurds could prolong the government formation process for weeks or months, so let’s not get too excited about four more years of Maliki just yet.
A few months ago, I wrote about the early stages of the conflict in Ukraine through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. While it appears likely that the war will carry on into the foreseeable future, enough time has passed for us to make an honest assessment of each side’s relative […]
The Ukrainian Army has made dramatic strides in the last few weeks. Ukraine’s tactical commanders have outfoxed their Russian counterparts, and by issuing a feint towards the south the UA has been able to earn substantial gains in the north of their country. The impact of these efforts have been compounded by the steady stream […]
In mid-May the Irish political party, Sinn Féin, won the plurality of seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly. Many American readers might not fully understand the significance of Sinn Féin’s political victory- but rest assured that subjects of the United Kingdom and a wide range of political movements the world over have heard the message […]
The first wave of the Russian offensive in Ukraine has fallen short of Russian autocrat Vladmir Putin’s ambitions. Most analysts deduced that Putin had hoped to achieve a decapitation strike of the Ukrainian government- taking Kiev and replacing Ukrainian President Vladimir Zolinski with a pro-Kremlin voice. Kiev has been threatened repeatedly through the course of […]
On the weekend of March 26th, the notorious MS-13 gang went on a massive killing spree in El Salvador which left more than 70 people dead by Sunday. Even for a country where powerful gangs hold massive sway, this recent tragedy stands out considering that it was the bloodiest day on record since the civil […]
