The Kurds’ dreams of independence look farther off than ever

For threekrgKDPPUK decades Kurdistan boomed while the rest of Iraq sputtered. The region had the country’s fastest economic growth. It built modern oil complexes, hotels and motorways. With a vote in favour of independence in a referendum in 2017, its future looked bright. Six years on that dream has faded. The cranes that rotated above sprawling conurbations are parked over half-finished estates. And as Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, rebounds thanks to improved security and oil revenues, its rulers are chipping away at Kurdistan’s autonomy. After 30 years of self-government, the Kurds’ economy, borders, disputed territories and politics are largely back under central control. The Kurdish Regional Government () is losing strength, says a Western diplomat monitoring developments from Baghdad: “There’s a risk that the Kurdistan project will fail.”The Kurds largely have themselves to blame. Squabbling between their two feudal families—the Barzanis who rule the west and the Talabanis in the east—has intensified. Since 2017 their leaders have transferred power to brasher sons with clashing personalities. Their parties—the Barzanis’ Kurdistan Democratic Party () and the Talabanis’ Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ()—fight over diminished resources. Their ministers often vote against each in the cabinet in Baghdad.