I think Iraq has a new constitution that many Iraqi citizens still believe is better than the alternatives and is better than what preceded it, where citizens do have rights. I think the process of reconciliation in Iraq hasn't been a high enough priority for the Iraqi government. I think that both civil society leaders and Iraqi politicians should be spending more time visiting areas outside their own ethnic or sectarian identity. This was an idea that was starting to happen, where Kurdish politicians would visit Basra, exchange visits, to promote more of a sense of national interest and national identity. I think it can be done. I think Baghdad is still potentially a more diverse and successful melting pot of—not always melting, but co-existing—Iraqi diversity.
I think we should also remember that citizens want services from their government. Sometimes the sectarianism could be muted a bit, or mitigated, if whatever the unit of governance is, whether it's a governorate or a national level government, as long as the services are being provided. Are there utilities, public schools, roads? I think that would do a lot to mitigate some of this resorting to subnational identity, because people are looking for basic essential services and if they're not getting them, they become disaffected from their government.
Again, I think that in places like Iraq some decentralization is desirable. That proves you are living in a post-authoritarian era, but whatever the unit of government, you have to focus first and foremost on providing essential services.