It is February 2006 and the Askari Mosque in Samarra, Iraq has just been blown up, allegedly by Sunni
extremists. Sectarian violence is raging in what is clearly becoming a full-blown civil war. You are an
analyst in the U.S. State Department tasked with writing a policy memorandum for the Assistant Secretary
of State for Near Eastern Affairs, who will use your memo, among others, to prepare for a meeting with
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Secretary Rice has called a meeting with her top advisors to
strategize about the U.S. position on Iraq’s political structure. One faction of her advisors supports the
dissolution of Iraq into three separate, sovereign states or, at a minimum, a decentralized system in
whichthe Kurdish north, Sunni center, and Shia south effectively govern themselves. Another faction
opposes this and, instead, advocates a strong role for the central state in Baghdad. What position do you
advocate and why?
Sample Solution