Mesopotamia, the ancient name for Iraq, means "land between the rivers". Today, though, the lines which divide the country, not those which circumscribe it, matter most. In the north and south people are emerging from the deepest of traumas into a world of possibilities. The virtually independent Kurdish region and the oil-rich Shia provinces already enjoy peace and a fair, or rising, degree of prosperity. Between them, though, the heart of the country is trapped in ethnic and sectarian strife, vicious political factionalism and foreign meddling. Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, behaves like a mafia don; his bickering rivals look little better.
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