Kurdistan's Oil Independence Dream Just Got Shattered

It is likely to be around 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week in Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital of Erbil, but few regional commentators will doubt that many in the semi-autonomous region will feel a chill somewhere deep inside their bones. Having voted for independence on 25 September 2017 by 92.73 percent in favour and 7.27 percent against, the Kurds of northern Iraq are now looking at being subsumed into the rest of the country and ruled in all material ways directly from Baghdad. This follows the announcement last week that the Association of…