71Received 05.02.2025. Revised 14.05.2025. Accepted 27.06.2025.
Acknowledgements. This article is an output of a research project implemented as part of the Basic Research Program at the HSE University in 2025 with support of the Russian Science Foundation (grant no. 24-18-00650).
Abstract. The article is devoted to the political evolution of the Union of the Comoros, an island state whose strategic location imperatively and firmly involves it in the geopolitical processes in the Indian Ocean basin. A small country located on islands objectively gravitates toward centralization, but the desire to return the island of Mayotte, held by France, forced its political elites to turn to federalism after gaining independence. The simultaneous action of centrifugal and centripetal trends makes the Comorian federation a rather paradoxical phenomenon, contradictorily but inextricably combining the dispersion of power and centralizing practices. Throughout its short independent history, the Comoros repeatedly switched from centralization to decentralization and vice versa. At the same time, the declarative commitment to the federal ethos, repeatedly enshrined in national constitutions and intended, according to local elites, to leave the door open for Mayotte to return to the “motherland”, has stimulated – and will probably continue to stimulate – separatist impulses as a side effect. At the same time, even the unsuccessful attempts at secession undertaken in the 1990s and 2000s by the islands of Anjouan and Mohéli, which nearly destroyed the state, could not turn the Comorian leadership away from federalism. Despite all the costs, it is perceived by local politicians as the most rational choice. In terms of comparative federalist studies, the Comorian experience is interesting in that it allows us to question the established correlation between federalism and democracy, showing that federal principles can be effectively used by authoritarian regimes. Moreover, the Union of Comoros’ policy towards the island of Mayotte reveals an unconventional aspect of federalism: in this case, it serves as an instrument of counteraction to French neocolonialism.
Keywords: Union of Comoros, Mayotte, federalism, decentralization, centralization, island federations
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