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Significance
Sectarian tensions in Iraq were exacerbated when the radical Sunni Islamic State group (ISG) seized Mosul in 2014 and Iraq's Shia militias were mobilised to fill the security vacuum left by the collapse of the Iraqi army.
Impacts
Sectarian tensions will prolong political paralysis and, therefore, undermine efforts to reform the politics and economy of the country.
Iran will extend its influence over Baghdad, at the expense of the United States.
Political paralysis and weaker US ties would deepen Iraq's fiscal crisis.
Keywords:
Iraq,
ME/NAF,
Iran,
Saudi Arabia,
Syria,
Turkey,
United States,
international relations,
politics,
guerrillas,
religion,
security
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2016
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