In the next few weeks it will be up to Iraq’s leaders to make some heavy weighted decisions. A recent New York Times opinion article from Zalmay Khalilzad explains that Iraq is likely to disintegrate if its leaders under their new prime minister cannot form a unified government. And if Sunni moderates and tribes cannot be motivated to fight the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria it looks dire for the country indeed.

The Sunnis must be granted appropriate concessions as well as the Kurds. Failing to do so by the central government will likely set the Kurds on the path of independence and sovereignty. The Kurds aren’t joking around either, they are very serious and the rest of the community on the international spectrum need to realize the upcoming realities.

Certainly the Iraqi leadership is responsible for subsiding the current crisis, but Khalilzad explains the biggest responsibility is shared among Shiite politicians—the ones dominating the central government. So where do they go from here? The Shiite parties have the large task in front of them of selecting a candidate for prime minister. This prime minister has to be able to depoliticize security forces, decentralize the government and share power, says Khalilzad.

What seems to be “part of the job” when working with the central government, Kurdistan is looking to the right to export its own oil among other things. Things like maintaining control of the regions Peshmerga security forces with the ability to get weapons to defend themselves against ISIS. Or settling previous issues in the budget department and keeping control of the country’s own autonomous finances. Finally, the prime minister would have to join together with Kirkuk and other areas that have recently been acquired. These demands have been directed towards Baghdad and the Kurds are not confident that they can be met.