ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights one of the major challenges that the region faced following the 2011 uprisings, which was to design a constitution-negotiation process that would prevent conflict while at the same time allowing for significant progress on substantive issues. It also presents the case studies that are set out here to illustrate different methods of proceeding in relation to substantive issues, and also the dangers that are inherent in miscalculating process design issues. The chapter discusses the four Arab Spring countries that engaged in relatively complex constitutional reform processes, including Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, and Libya. Iraq's 2005 constitution-negotiation process took place in unique circumstances. The principles included a number of procedural rules relating to the coming constitutional drafting process and also included a list of substantive provisions that would theoretically be binding on the future constitutional drafting committee. Naturally, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties were completely opposed to the idea that anything could bind the future drafting committee.
