Comparative Arab Experiences with Federalism
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Transcript Comparative Arab Experiences with Federalism
Comparative Arab Experiences
with Federalism
Democratic Federalism – An Intensive Course offered to Iraqi University
Faculty by the Forum of Federations – Amman, June 18 to July 5, 2007
Outline
Arab and Islamic experiences with diversity and unity
Successful federal experiences: The United Arab Emirates
Failed “federal” experiences: The United Arab Republic
and the Yemeni unification process
Federalism and post-conflict peacebuilding: Why not
Lebanon but (maybe) the Sudan?
Arab and Islamic experiences with diversity and unity
Diversity in the Arab World:
Sources of diversity: ethnicity, language, and religion
Historical expressions of diversity
Provinces, governorates under the various Arab/Islamic empires
The millet system under the Ottoman empire
Unity in the Arab World:
The concept of the Umma
Arab nationalism – al qawmiyya al `arabiyya
Successful federal experiences : The United Arab Emirates
(1) Context and Prerequisites
A history of past cooperation – The Trucial States (from
1820-1892 to 1971)
A hostile regional environment – federalism as a bulwark
against strong neighbours
Extensive border disputes – federalism as a mechanism
of conflict-management
Extremely diverse units – asymmetrical federalism?
Successful federal experiences : The United Arab Emirates
(2) Characteristics
A flexible and creatively ambiguous constitution
A founding (and renewed) compromise between
wahdawis and ittihadis
A social compact based on rentierism
Supportive institutional structures
Failed “federal” experiences : (1)The United Arab
Republic (1958-1961)
Context and prerequisites
Two competing visions: one quasi-federal, the other unitary
A union of equal partners: Coming together and staying apart
A consecration of Arab unity: Melding together
Domestic political struggles in Syria: Baathists vs. Communists
The aura of Gamal ‘Abd al-Nasser and the weight of Egypt
Plebiscite and the ratification of the Union
Characteristics
An unstable bipolar arrangement
No geographic contiguity
High asymmetry in size and capacity
Authoritarianism at the center
Egyptian dominance of political life and of the Syrian administration
Failed “federal” experiences: (2) Yemeni unification
(1990-1994)
Context and prerequisites
The end of the Cold War
The discovery of oil and natural gas in the contested border
area between North and South Yemen
but ... the decision to back Iraq in its invasion of Kuwait
Characteristics
Two widely divergent systems
Federalism and post-conflict peacebuilding (1):
Why not Lebanon but (maybe) the Sudan?
Lebanon
Regions, what regions?
A problem of trust
An extremely intermingled country – 17 minorities none of which
(with the exception of the Druze community) is geographically
concentrated
A logic of economic and administrative centralization – the
overwhelming dominance of Greater Beirut
A divided identity in a troubled regional context –The National Pact
of 1943
Unity vs. diversity: Federal proposals and majoritarian democracy
An existing alternative:
A history of consociational powersharing
Federalism and post-conflict peacebuilding (2):
Why not Lebanon but (maybe) the Sudan?
Sudan
An extremely complex Comprehensive Peace Agreement
Building trust
Through institutions: Proportional division of power at the center
Overnight: A relatively short transitional period – 6 years from 2005 to the scheduled
2011 referendum with a 2009 democratic election deadline
Building capacity under duress: The creation of a new large region (Government of South
Sudan)
A gap between the text of the CPA and the practice of the Government of National
Unity under the stewardship of the ruling National Congress Party
Unity over diversity:
Concentration of power and decision-making responsibility in the Presidency – rule by
decree
A breach of trust
Pairing agreement in the attribution of ministries is not respected
Only 40 SPLM/A members in the GNU
No meaningful inclusion of SPLM/A in the civil service and other national institutions
Federalism and post-conflict peacebuilding (3):
Why not Lebanon but (maybe) the Sudan?
Sudan
Serious flashpoints
The Abyei problem
The management of oil
Complicated by internal and external factors
Internal factors
The lack of NCP political will
The lack of SPLM/A capacity
The death of John Garang
External factors
The Ugandan LRA and the security situation in South Sudan
Chad and the support to Darfur rebels