Iraq presents the difficulty of international relations. The Iraqi Civil War shows how a domestic problem may become an international one and how this international problem may then challenge the affected regime, government, or state to reconfigure its multi-country strategy on counter-terrorism to what concerns not only the international community but also its own population. Though Iraq as a country includes distinct communities of Kurds and Sunni Arabs, the Iraqi government can influence them little given that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) rules most of the former, the terror organization “Islamic State” (IS, ISIL, or ISIS) most of latter. While acknowledging the importance of ending sectarianism to Iraq’s stability, this article will focus on the Iraqi government’s relationship with its Shia citizens, who form the majority in Baghdad, Basra, and other cities in the center and south where the Iraqi government has sole authority. This relationship helps explain why domestic and international concerns pushed Iraq further from the American-led coalition known as Operation “Inherent Resolve” and closer to the Iranian-led coalition often known as the “Axis of Resistance” or the “Shia Crescent“.