Growing Instability in Iraqi Kurdistan

Just as the results of a controversial local election in Iraqi Kurdistan confirmed that the power balance between the two main Kurdish parties has been broken, a large — and rare — suicide bombing rocked the security headquarters in the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil on Sept. 29, killing seven people and injuring dozens of others. Iraqi Kurdistan has long tried to set itself apart from the rest of Iraq and the wider region as an oasis of political stability and security worthy of attracting foreign investment, but a number of factors are converging to erode that image.