Can Iraq Avoid Fragmentation?
Will the Iraqi government have to cede power to armed groups controlling their own areas?
The Real Story · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Ever since the invasion in 2003 Iraq has faced ceaseless conflict. Today there are two parallel crises. In Baghdad protesters are demanding an end to elite corruption. And, on the battlefield, the Iraqi army and Shia militias are fighting so-called Islamic State. But Iraqis are wondering about the battles to come. Will the central government have to cede power to armed groups that control their own areas? Owen Bennett-Jones is in Baghdad, along with his guests to discuss the forces threatening Iraq's fragmentation.
(Photo: Protest by supporters of the Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Credit: AP/Khalid Mohammed)