Recent elections have made it clear, however, that its cities and 18
governorates all have significant minorities, and any effort to divide the country would require massive relocations.
Moreover, Iraq is heavily urbanized, with nearly 40% of the population in the
divided Baghdad and Mosul areas. Kirkuk is already a powder keg, and Basra is
the subject of Shi’ite Islamist “cleansing.” Ulster and the Balkans have already
shown how difficult it is to split cities, and with Iraq’s centralized and failing
infrastructure, and impoverished economy, violence and economics cannot be
separated.
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