Mission Impossible? Federalism in Somalia and the Search for a New Institutional Arrangement

Abstract

In 1787 and 1848, the two first federations of Modern Times have been created by a movement of centralization: American states and Swiss cantons have considered that it was no more possible for them to live as quasi-sovereign states and that unity was strength. So they have congregated their fragile democracies under a more solid federal and democratic umbrella. Almost two centuries later, this centralizing element of federalism seems to have faded away. At a time where almost all states in the World are centralized (and quite often over-centralized) and unitary “nation states”, federalism is perceived as a mean of decentralization, of empowerment of regions in order to take into account minorities and diversities. But as Somalia as a state does not exist anymore, the original centralizing element of federalism should apply: first a recognition of the status quo, and then, slowly, a federalization movement driving – perhaps – through a Confederation (like USA and Switzerland) to a federation