Alon Ben-Meir

Alon Ben-Meir is a professor of international relations and Middle Eastern studies at New York University and a prolific writer and lecturer on the Middle East. In the following viewpoint he argues for a federalist political system in which Iraq’s three main factions (Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis) retain a significant measure of autonomy and self-rule through the creation of three separate states within Iraq. He argues that such a system, which borrows elements from the governments of the United States and other democracies, will prevent one ethnic group from violating the rights of the others and would create the conditions conducive for making Iraq a stable democracy.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. What are some of the social and historical factors that make governing Iraq difficult, according to Ben-Meir...