Avoiding the rise of ‘little’ Lebanon

ENAR

In early April, President Michel Sleiman put forward a draft law calling for administrative decentralization in Lebanon. The lengthy proposal, prepared by an expert committee led by former Minister of Interior Ziyad Baroud, calls for shifting some administrative responsibilities and fiscal resources from the central government to regional councils and municipalities. The move towards decentralization aims to give different sectarian and regional groups some autonomy and the ability to determine their local affairs, and can certainly be seen to have some merit given the current context of a central state inclined to political paralysis. However, this latest call for decentralization comes at a time when risks of disintegration along ethnic lines are increasing across the Middle East, including Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen. Several analysts expect the Middle East regional map to be redrawn or radical changes in governance systems including federalism or some version of decentralization. Lessons from other