Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Columnist

How the U.S. Can Quell the Kurdish Crisis

There is still time to keep Iraq from breaking apart, but Washington cannot wait to be asked to mediate.

October 4, 2017 at 1:00 PM UTC

Meghan L. O’Sullivan is a professor of international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School and the North American chair of the Trilateral Commission, she served on the National Security Council from 2004 to 2007.

Have patience.
Photographer: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty Images

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More than 90 percent of Iraq's Kurds voted to declare independence last week, bringing tensions to an even higher boil across the Middle East. The regional governments that opposed the referendum -- Turkey, Iran and the Iraqi government in Baghdad -- are intent on punishing the Kurds, already beginning economic measures and even threatening a military response.

The U.S., which also vigorously opposed the referendum, must resist the urge to pile on. Rather, Washington should shift its policy away from combating a Kurdish challenge to the unity of Iraq to a more neutral, less outcome-oriented stance.