This autonomy poses numerous problems for Baghdad, including the distribution of roles in the exploitation and commercialization of crude oil. Above all, the limitations of Iraqi Kurdistan, which is run like a state, are not clearly defined. Within the contested areas there are confrontations between community logic and administrative divisions: military and administrative borders in practice and in law do not correlate.

Article published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 79, No. 2, Summer 2014