the current political trend in the US is moving, at least a little bit, toward more federalism as a way to ease tensions between different sectors of the ruling class, so that there are variations in the harshness of capitalist exploitation to better suit different domestic industries and the personal preferences of the capitalists. i think it can’t be ignored that this is happening in the context of the weakening of the US empire, which makes these internal conflicts of the capitalist class fiercer.
in terms of AES countries, a move from a unitary state toward a federation would be an admission of at least instability if not impending defeat, much as it would be in a capitalist country. forming a new AES country would very much depend on local conditions, but the goal should always be to preserve as much political and economic unity as possible. the only exceptions we should permit would be if there are pressing issues such as internally oppressed nations that would threaten the whole project if left unaddressed.
when confronting a general question like this, i like to look at the analysis of historical struggles to get a basis for my thinking, and this seems like a good starting point: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1917/03/28.htm
the current political trend in the US is moving, at least a little bit, toward more federalism as a way to ease tensions between different sectors of the ruling class, so that there are variations in the harshness of capitalist exploitation to better suit different domestic industries and the personal preferences of the capitalists. i think it can’t be ignored that this is happening in the context of the weakening of the US empire, which makes these internal conflicts of the capitalist class fiercer.
in terms of AES countries, a move from a unitary state toward a federation would be an admission of at least instability if not impending defeat, much as it would be in a capitalist country. forming a new AES country would very much depend on local conditions, but the goal should always be to preserve as much political and economic unity as possible. the only exceptions we should permit would be if there are pressing issues such as internally oppressed nations that would threaten the whole project if left unaddressed.