Iraq: Can New Kurdish Leaders Unite a Divided Region?

Iraqi Kurdistan may soon be governed by new leaders, but bitter rivalries and social divisions will endure. Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani announced that he will not extend his term when it expires Nov. 1, after he apparently gravely underestimated how the central Iraqi government in Baghdad would react to the KRG's independence referendum Sept. 25. Since the referendum, Iraqi federal troops have retaken control of disputed territory and critical infrastructure previously held by Kurdish forces and conflict among and within different Kurdish political parties has increased....