David Zucchini in NYT on Kurdistan, Iraq and its independence:

'For the Kurds, the vote was a potent and historic touchstone, a declaration to the world that they this is their moment and they are not turning back.

“This is an irreversible step toward independence,” said Peter W. Galbraith, a former American diplomat with close ties to the Kurdish leadership.

But the Kurds may have underestimated the depth of international opposition.

Before they had even stopped celebrating, Iraq and its two powerful neighbors, Turkey and Iran, immediately went to work to negate the vote. Iraq fears losing a third of its country, as well as oil and natural gas reserves. Turkey and Iran fear that independence for Iraq’s Kurds would embolden separatist ambitions among their own Kurdish minorities.

The fierce reaction has exposed Kurdistan’s distinct vulnerabilities and shortcomings. The region’s first days after the vote were spent not laying the groundwork for statehood, but struggling to escape a tightening noose.'

(...)

'The government is a Barzani family enterprise. Mr. Barzani is the son of the former Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani. Massoud Barzani’s son Masrour Barzani heads the security council in his father’s government.

Massoud Barzani’s nephew, Nechirvan Barzani, is prime minister. The president’s uncle is Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi’s former foreign minister and Mr. Barzani’s top adviser on the referendum.

Denise Natali, an expert on Kurdistan at National Defense University in Washington, says the issue for the Kurds may not be whether the region can transform itself into a state but the kind of state it would become: “poor, failed, and unstable.”'

Read the article here.

The state as family interprise. Well, even in the US there are some politicians who would love to turn the state into a family enterprise. But at least the US is already independent.

This is not a good time to give birth to new states. The international community doesn't want to have borders changed in the Middle East. The international community didn't want a Brexit. There are forces stronger than the international community, but I wouldn't bet on an independent Kurdistan in the near future.