Negotiating a Transition to Federalism in Yemen
The purpose of this negotiation is to identify the challenges involved with transitioning from a unitary to a federal state in Yemen and to explore potential points of agreement or disagreement among the key negotiating parties. The objective of the simulation is to explore negotiation dynamics, identify points of conflict, and find potential solutions for three of the key elements shaping federalism in Yemen: (1) the allocation of governing powers to the regions; (2) the allocation of natural resources; and (3) the role of the regions in the central government. Each participant will be assigned to play the role of one of the major constituencies or key actors in Yemen, and will negotiate one of these key elements of the new federal constitution in working groups. The negotiation simulation has been developed based upon the methodology used by the US Department of State’s National Foreign Affairs Training Institute to train US diplomats prior to negotiations.