Rubio warns of Iraq ‘Balkanisation’: Is that a real threat?

Balkanisation as Rubio framed it means more that Iraq risks failing to become a centralised, stable state that can wean off Iranian interference – not that it faces imminent territorial partition,” Ozcelik said. She described the armed groups as a “festering, now structural” challenge, and said they have “operated inside federal Iraq with near impunity”.