Damn,this is depressing! But at least the Kurd offensive over the Mosul Dam is happening,although it may be a Pyrrhic victory. Man,the whole country has gone to the dogs since the US withdrawal. The whole region seems to be self-destructing. Syria,Gaza,Iraq,Afghanistan...
A lot of issues in that area of the world comes down to Middle Eastern tribalism, where everyone traces themselves to a patrilineal male ancestor and then they war each other under vendetta or religious pretexts. Saddam's army was spending most of its' time fighting desert warlords in the boonies to keep Iraq together. The Communists in Afghanistan faced the same issue.
. We're not talking about some guy in the 1800s either, some of these tribes trace ancestries to guys back in the early Medieval Ages (way way before the nation states existed in Europe). Tribal / Clan identity comes before nation or religious identity.
That's arguably the end result of societal practices. Muslim Polygamy meant that rulers could have multiple wives / concubines and thus a patrilineal descendent was always ensured. This is in contrast to European Dynasties which 98% would die out in the patrilineal line due to a lack of male children.