Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran are the primary state players that make life in the Kurdish neighborhood complex, but non-state actors also roil the environment inside Iraq. The Kurdish question remains a major global flashpoint. As Iraq’s civil war rolls on and stability of the multi-ethnic state is called into question, Quil Lawrence believes how the U.S. handles the Kurds and their quest for statehood will define the region for decades to come.

Quil Lawrence is the Middle East correspondent for BBC/PRI's "The World", and has spent most of the last seven years in Iraq and Kurdistan.