Cascading Crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan
October 6, 2017 - Institute for the Study of War![](https://understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/styles/thumb-wide/public/Iraqi%20Kurdistan%20Referendum%20-%20Iraq%2C%20Turkey%2C%20Iran%20Axis%20Final-02_2.png?itok=QWpCMJAF)
Iraqi Kurdistan’s drive for independence is generating new regional alignments that deepen Iranian – and potentially Russian – influence in Iraq at the expense of the United States. Turkey, Iran, and Iraq adopted a coordinated, aggressive force posture in retaliation for the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) independence referendum on September 25, 2017.