Iraq: Basra Pushes for Autonomy

The Iraqi province of Basra produces roughly the same amount of oil as the entirety of the neighboring country of Kuwait. But it has little control over its own revenue, since the Iraqi federal government, which pulls the country's purse strings, is located in Baghdad. This economic reality has on multiple occasions prompted Basrawis to push for increased autonomy and greater control over their region's oil wealth. And on April 1 the Basra Provincial Council launched another significant attempt to do so by voting, unanimously, to become an autonomous region of Iraq under the country's constitution....