Federalism in the Middle East: State Reconstruction Projects and the Arab Spring (Perspectives on Development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region)

This book examines the projects of administrative and territorial reconstruction of Arab countries as an aftermath of the “Arab Spring”. Additionally, it looks into an active rethinking of the former unitary model, linked by its critics with dictatorship and oppression. The book presents decentralization or even federalization as newly emerging major topics of socio-political debate in the Arab world. As the federalist recipes and projects are specific and the struggle for their implementation has a pronounced variation, different case studies are presented. Countries discussed include Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Iraq. The book looks into the background and prerequisites of the federalist experiments of the “Arab Spring”, describes their evolution and current state, and assesses the prospects for the future. It is, therefore, a must-read for scholars of political science, as well as policy-makers interested in a better understanding of previous and current developments in the Arab countries. Foreword 6 Acknowledgements 9 About This Book 10 Introduction: Federalist Revival after the Arab Spring: Causes and Effects 11 Contents 17 About the Authors 19 1 Integration, Federalization and the Arab National Idea 20 1.1 The Paradoxical Fruits of Nationalism 21 1.2 Failed Birth: The Fertile Crescent Federation 24 1.3 Egypt, Arab Unity and Arab League Instead of Federation 29 1.4 Baghdad—Cairo—Damascus 34 1.5 The Unitary Federation and It’s Odd Alter Ego 38 1.6 The Final Chord or Mission Impossible 42 2 Imposed Federalism: Iraq 47 2.1 Hutch and Millstone of Empires 48 2.2 The People Who Did not Get Statehood 51 2.3 The Suffering of the Kurds in the Iraqi Republic 53 2.4 Destruction of the Enemy and the Long-Awaited Good Fortune 57 2.5 Still Barks, but Doesn’t Bite 59 2.6 Lack of Unity and Timeliness 62 3 The Oil Federalism: Libya 68 3.1 Civil Unrest and the Metastases of Decay 69 3.2 The Geography of Power 72 3.3 The Monopoly on Violence is No More 77 3.4 Remembering the Tricolor 80 3.5 From Chaos to Federation 84 4 The Chaotic Federalism: Yemen 88 4.1 Tribal and Imperial Federations 89 4.2 The British Legacy and the Pan-Arab Fraternity 92 4.3 Mergers and Acquisitions 96 4.4 Opponents of Federalization in the North and the South 100 4.5 The Revolution and the Decentralization 103 4.6 “Cutting” Difficulties 105 5 Elusive Federalism: Syria 111 5.1 The Kurds’ Misfortunes: The Syrian Version 112 5.2 The Third Power and the Forced Federalism 115 5.3 Rojava as a State Without Statehood 119 5.4 Moscow Teaches Syrians Constitution-Making 123 5.5 A United Federalist Front? 126 Conclusion 131 Appendix 1 The Key Integration and Federal Projects in the MENA Region, 1920–2020 134 Appendix 2 Map of the Middle East 136 Appendix 3 Iraq 137 Appendix 4 Libya 138 Appendix 5 Yemen 139 Appendix 6 Syria 140 References 141