The growing strength and assertiveness of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has alarmed Iraq’s neighbors and the Baghdad government. If ignored or badly handled, Kurdish aspirations have the potential to ignite violence and instability in Iraq and the region at a particularly delicate time.

Turkey’s constitutional crisis – which nearly led to the banning of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) – is not over yet. Henri Barkey and Ian Lesser argue the country has yet to fully recover, and the AKP needs to implement a set of changes to the party’s hierarchy and political agenda in order to avoid another crisis.