Shi’astan 1, Kurdistan 1, Sunnistan 0

Here is the concluding paragraph of my piece published by the Middle East Institute Friday:

Thus the current insurgency may look as if it has Maliki cornered, but the long-term strategic balance is still with the Shi’a for geographical, demographic, and resource reasons. Sunnistan is neither a viable state nor a unified one. When the money ISIS seized in Mosul starts to run out, the thieves will quarrel with their comrades in arms. Sunnistan will not want to stay in an unhappy marriage, but it won’t be able to leave, either. Whether Maliki stays or goes, the Sunni insurgency is doomed.