Iraq is at a crucial tipping point in its history. The past few months especially have seen a surge in activity from Western firms looking to re-enter the country’s oil and gas sector following a prolonged hiatus that had allowed the previous build-up of influence of China and Russia to accelerate and expand. Both sides – West and East – see Iraq as a crucial part of their global strategic plans, with no room for the other in this zero-sum game. As exclusively revealed to OilPrice.com by a very high-ranking official…