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Two Rivers, Three Countries? Ethnography and Destiny in Iraq

<p>Barzani</p>

The surprise advance of Iraqi troops into the Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk on Monday raises a spectre that has haunted Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion: Can the country remain united?

In a referendum held this September by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), 90 percent of Iraqi Kurds voted in favor of independence from Iraq. The vote kicked off a rolling crisis that has led to neighboring states almost completely cutting off the Kurdish region.

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