On January 1st, 1959 Sudan finally became its own independent country, and it looked as if it’s history of conflict would soon come to an end. But this was not to be, throughout most of Sudan’s independent status as a country it has been in constant turmoil. For the first thirteen years, 1959-1969, an elected government ran Sudan, but in that year, 1969, the elected government would be toppled by a military coup. Ever since this incident, Sudan has been in a civil war almost indefinitely.
This rule would last for about 20 when a leader in that government rose up against them. In 1989 Lieutenant-General Omar al-Bashir took power through another coup. Shortly afterwards al-Bashir would make a decision that many people look back on and wonder why he did, this decision was al-Bashir’s shocking alliance with a man named Hassam al-Turabi. This occurred in the early 1990’s and many people knew of the close ties that al-Turabi had with Islamic Terrorist groups. He was also the Muslim cleric that was the head of the ruling party in the country, the National Congress Party (Sodaro 2008, 154). Subsequently in 1991, Osama bin Laden, was granted residence in Sudan under the protection of the National Congress Party and more specifically al-Turabi himself. Bin Laden was known for having ties with terrorist groups but was still allowed to stay in the country until 1996. During this time period a rivalry that intensified every year bin Laden stayed formed between al-Bashir and al-Turabi. This would ultimately lead to al-Bashir taking powers away from al-Turabi that had been granted to him in the years past. War was narrowly adverted shortly after this happened when al-Bashir had al-Turabi arrested, for trying to start an uprising a...
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...is trying to broker peace not only in Sudan, but in all of Africa.
In conclusion it comes down to where do the lines between comparative politics and international relations end. On one had comparative politics academics would like to study the situation and find out governmental reasons why those events are occurring in Sudan and more importantly Darfur. On the other hand you have governments around the world concerned with how this international relations problem will adversely affect the world and how they should deal with China.
Works Cited
Andersson, Hillary. 2009. China “is fueling war in Darfur”. BBC News.
Associated Press. 2009. Sudan leader faces war-crime charges. MSNBC.com.
Noueihed Lin. 2009. Sudan, Darfur rebels agree to hold peace talks. Reuters.
Sodaro, Michael J. 2008. Comparative Politics: A Global Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill.
In the Darfur region, part of Sudan, a civil war (often referred to as genocide) has been occurring for approximately 8 years. The current conflict began in 2003 when rebel groups, the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, made up of the Fur, Zaghawa and Masalit tribes took up arms against the government of Sudan because the non-Arab Sudanese felt oppressed and that the government was in favor of Sudanese Arabs. A previous period of conflict in Sudan-Darfur during 1985-1988 saw only 9,000 killed, while during the first 3 years of this most recent conflict, 2003-2006, over 200,000 Darfurians are believed to have been...
Reeves, Eric, Massimo Calabresi, Sam Dealey, and Stephan Faris. “The Tragedy of Sudan.” Time. Time Inc, 4 Oct. 2004. Web and Print. 15 April 2014. .
In 2011, after nearly 50 years of conflict, citizens of the southern half of Sudan voted to secede and form their own country. On 9 July 2011, South Sudan was created amidst the uphill battle of legitimacy, governance, and economic stability in an already volatile region. Widespread poverty and an underdeveloped infrastructure plague the chances of South Sudan’s success.
In 1898, Britain and Egypt took control over Sudan. This didn’t include Darfur, which was an independent territory ruled by a sultan. In 1916, Britain added Darfur to the territory it controlled. After World War II, in 1945, Britain and Egypt began preparing Sudan for independence. From 1945-1989, Darfur -remote from Khartoum and having invaluable resources- suffered neglect from all governments. Sudan has been independence since 1956. However, the journey that led to Sudan’s genocide in Darfur began in the late 1800s. It’s a complicated tale that involves conquest; internal politics; social, ethnical, racial, and re...
...d viewed independence as the British keeping their rule through their Arab colleagues. Continuous Sudanese governments have failed or been reluctant to change the inequalities brought on by colonialism in the nation and therefore discrimination is being exposed in Sudan.
The purpose of this essay is to adequately depict the current conflict in Darfur and discuss the effects that the Darfur Conflict has had on the neighboring countries, the Horn of Africa region and U.S. interest. In addition, this essay will explore how Darfur Conflict affects global concerns.
The Sudan genocide, a civil war that was started in the early 1980s when drought, famine and the spread of un-arable land caused traditional African herders and Darfur citizens to argue over land. For the next 22 years relationships worsened between the Arab and non-Arab tribes. The Western region of Sudan: Darfur was thrown into civil war by its own government and two rbel armies in an uprising that should have been seen coming for a long time. This essay will elaberate on the events that occurred in Sudan over the past twenty two years and to what extent the mass killings that occurred can be defined as Genocide. The insurgeny began in Febuary 2003; goning virtually uunnoticed by the international community and shadowed by the ongoing war in Irac. The Sudan governent has been blamed for virtually every event during the past 22 years of civil unrest that has led up to the mass killing of hundreds and thousands of civilians. The many different ethinic groups in Sudan were constantly arguing and fighting over any and all issues and problems that could be brought upon to their attention; this led to growing tension. The mass killings in Sudan could be classified as ethnic cleansing; a term used to describe the killing of an ethnic group of people because their role in that society is unjustified or they are invading on terriotory that they are not welcome on.
The conflict in Darfur was caused by a rebellion. The people of Darfur felt neglected and took up arms against the government in an effort to gain more recognition. The most disturbing part of this story might just be how extreme the government’s reaction to this rebellion was. This act of rebellion
Sudan was broken by three regions, North, West and South. Each varies among religion and ethics. For example northern of sudan ethnically is Arabic and religiously Muslim, southern of Sudan is ethnically black and religiously Christin while the western of Sudan is ethnically black religiously Muslim. People were fostered by sort of hierarchy where the more arabic or the lighter your skin was, the more intelligent you were perceived. For example, the reason Omar Hassan al-Bashir seized power was because of where he was from and the color of his skin, Hassan lacked all characte...
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 states, “The conflict in the Sudan is the longest running conflict in Africa… it has caused tragic loss of life, destroyed the infrastructure of the country, eroded its economic resources and caused suffering to the people of the Sudan” (“Sudan” Insight). Sudan faced the challenge of overcoming the ethnic division between Northern Sudan’s Arab heritage and Southern Sudan’s African heritage. Southern Sudan was isolated from the Northern region, which prevented Sudan from fully participating in the country's political, economic, and social life. This separation resulted in ethnic tension and caused racial clashes and dependence between the two groups. The turmoil and troubles in Sudan today began with a heavy Anglo- Egyptian influence on ancient-Sudan.
Throughout Northern and Central Africa ethnic fighting and mass genocide has run rampant. Clashes between, diverse ethnic and cultural people has caused instability, these mass humanitarian disasters that can no longer be ignored. With the help of other nations South Sudan can go from another mass genocide waiting to happen, to a region supplier of much needed resources, with the help of other nations. In the 1990’s Rwanda genocide was basically ignored by the United States government and because of this hundreds of thousands were either killed or injured in the area. In the early 2000’s the war in Darfur, created a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. Again thousands of Africans were killed and the United States government and the American people ignored genocide.
The Sudanese government is breaching at least two articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR); Article 3, 'Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person', (General Assembly Resolution, 1948, Article 3) and Article 5, 'No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment'. (General Assembly Resolution, 1948, Article 5) The government has not only killed thousands of Fur, Masalit, and Zaghawa civilians - they have, with the help of their Janjaweed allies, raped women, destroyed food supplies, and forced over one million civilians into camps and settlements in Darfur where they are ?on the very edge of survival? (Human Rights Watch, 2004, p. 5) and subject to regular Janjaweed abuses. These breaches are very serious and need to be addressed appropriately.
South Sudan is the newest country in the world, the fifty-fourth country in Africa, and the newest country to join the United-Nations. South Sudan is a landlocked country and is located in Eastern-Africa. South Sudan is filled with plains in the north and center parts of the country. Within South Sudan lays the White Nile, a major tributary of the Nile River, which is the longest river in the world spreading four thousand two hundred fifty eight miles long. South Sudan is bordered by six countries: Central African Republic, Kenya, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Sudan.
Tadesse, Debay. Post-independence South Sudan: the challenges ahead. ISPI-ISTITUTO PER GU STUDI DI POLITICA INTERNAZIONALE. February 2012.no.46.
The rise of this conflict can be traced back to European colonialism. As the British Empire continued to expand it incorporated Sudan into it’s empire in the 1890s. However at the time, Sudan was not the Sudan that is knew pre-2011. There were two a North and a South Sudan. The north was predominatingly a Arabic speaking Muslim North, and the south an English speaking Christian South. To prevent Egypt claiming North Sudan, the British combined the two regions into one. It can be classified as this being the start of the conflict. The two regions, were culturally,religiously, and ethnically different. Tensions were bound to rise based on these issues. When the British colonialism ended and Sudan declared independence in 1956, the borders were not altered. The country was still united into one Sudan. The British like most Colonial powers left the nation with an unstable government structure. The British supported the North more than it did the South, thus creating resentment and tensions between the two after the end of colonialism.