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Territorial Decentralization and Civil War Settlements 1

Political decentralization along territorial lines is emerging as a key element in contemporary civil war settlements. In Bosnia, the Dayton Agreement rests on a new federal structure to build the peace. In Kosovo, the Western powers used force against Serbia ostensibly to restore regional autonomy for the ethnic Albanians. In the Philippines, state leaders experimented with territorial autonomy as a solution to the decades-old conflict in Mindanao. And in Ethiopia, the Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front established an ethnically-based federal structure after assuming power from the hegemonic regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam. Territorial decentralization now appears to be an institution of first resort for domestic or international actors in their attempts to bring peace to war-torn societies. Territorial decentralization is supported by peacemakers because it recognizes the political and spatial realities on the ground, especially the division of territory won on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. By granting each group a state-within-a-state, peacemakers aim to mitigate fears of political exploitation and inter-group violence and, at least in part, to satisfy local demands for cultural and religious autonomy. At the same time, decentralization maintains existing external borders, and thus does not challenge the principle of territorial integrity central to contemporary notions of sovereignty (see Zacher 2001). In short, decentralization is believed to address the political insecurities and desire for self-determination that lead to conflict while respecting the principle that, if at all possible, sovereignty should not be dismantled.