From Dayton to Jerusalem: Federalism is the Green Way to Build Peace

The author advocates for the use of federalism as a long-term political framework to manage ethnically divided states, arguing that the international community can and should impose such structures even without the initial volition of local elites. Using Bosnia and Herzegovina as a primary example, the text contrasts federalism with the historical approach of creating ethnically homogeneous nation-states through population transfers. The author suggests that a federal solution, involving power-sharing among moderate elites and international oversight, could be applied to conflicts in Israel/Palestine and Ukraine, provided there is sufficient international political will and a commitment to transitional justice.

• Federalism serves as a sustainable alternative to the historical practice of creating ethnically homogeneous nation-states, which often relied on forced population transfers and resulted in short-term peace treaties that failed to resolve underlying hatreds.
• The international community can impose a federal structure on warring parties to pacify a country and maintain its unity, regardless of whether the local political elites believe in power-sharing or desire a common state.
• Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a model of an internationally administrated federation where the Dayton Peace Agreement of 1995 was imposed by international pressure, leading to a process of centralization and the imposition of ethnically neutral symbols by the Office of the High Representative.
• In the Israel/Palestine conflict, the author suggests that an imposed federation from the river Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea may be more sustainable than a two-state solution, which is losing viability due to Israeli colonization of the West Bank.
• For imposed federalism to be successful, it must be accompanied by the demilitarization of armed forces, the deployment of international troops to enforce cease-fires, and mechanisms of transitional justice to build trust between communities.

APA

Shemer-Kunz, Y. (2015). From Dayton to Jerusalem: Federalism is the Green Way to Build Peace. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/from-dayton-to-jerusalem-federalism-is-the-green-way-to-build-peace/

Chicago

Shemer-Kunz, Yoav. From Dayton to Jerusalem: Federalism is the Green Way to Build Peace. Green European Journal, 2015. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/from-dayton-to-jerusalem-federalism-is-the-green-way-to-build-peace/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Shemer-Kunz |first1=Yoav |title=From Dayton to Jerusalem: Federalism is the Green Way to Build Peace |publisher=Green European Journal |date=1 March 2015 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/from-dayton-to-jerusalem-federalism-is-the-green-way-to-build-peace/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{shemerkunz2015from, author = {Shemer-Kunz, Yoav}, title = {{From Dayton to Jerusalem: Federalism is the Green Way to Build Peace}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2015}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/from-dayton-to-jerusalem-federalism-is-the-green-way-to-build-peace/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }