Federalism as conflict resolution
The book Yemen and the Search for Stability. Power, Politics and Society after the Arab Uprisingsprovides a unique and empirically grounded look into the diversity of experiences during the Arab Uprising in Yemen. It provides an overview of some of the most important actors and ideas that have shaped the Yemeni struggle in the initial post-2011 years and the factors, both internal and external that derailed Yemen’s transition process.
In the edited volume, Maria-Louise Clausen’s chapter “Can Federalism save the Yemeni state?” focuses on the potential of federalism and decentralization to defuse conflict and contribute to the building of a stable state. Drawing on the literatures on federalism and state-building, Clausen’s chapter provides an overview of experiences with decentralization in the Yemeni context to use these as a starting point for understanding the specific meaning and importance of federalism as it played out during the transition between 2011 and 2015. The chapter argues that federalism was used as a rather hollow, abstract concept which allowed a wide range of actors to see federalism as an acceptable future structure for Yemen but simultaneously undermined its ability to provide a clear path towards a ‘new Yemen’. As part of this, there is a disconnect between formal frameworks and implementation that can be manipulated by political elites.
The book provides a unique look into the plans, hopes, visions and ideas that shaped Yemen from 2011 until 2015. At a time where UN refers to Yemen as the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, the chapters in this book remind us that there is an abundance of creativity and constructive visions by Yemeni actors that could contribute to the (re-)building of Yemen – if given the chance.
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