Dear Editor,
M Maxwell (SN, Jul 18) contends federalism is not the answer for Guyana’s racial woes (‘Federalism is not the answer’). His main contention is Guyana will be vulnerable to balkanization and/or invasion with the formation of new entities.
That being the crux of his argument, and given that he uses Switzerland as a case study, can he explain why that nation has not been balkanized into many states and/or invaded by neighbours after a hundred years of federalism? Switzerland has one of the highest standards of living in the world, and virtually no ethnic conflict, even though it is perhaps one of the most ethnically divided states in Europe. Perhaps he can also seek to explain why other ethnically divided states like Belgium, Spain, France, etc, all of which are ethnically divided and all of which have a federated structure, have not been balkanized or invaded and taken over by their neighbours? A federated distribution of political power and resources seem to have a mollifying effect on ethnic conflict in European societies, and such a potential solution such not be dismissed outright for Guyana.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
