This posting is a guide to three online sources of scholarly material on Darfur (and Sudan in general) that provide different resources for the student or professor. The most comprehensive online resource on Sudan is the Rift Valley Institute’s Sudan Open Archive. The Center for African Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, hosts UnderstandingSudan.org, which is a resource specifically geared for teachers planning classes on Sudan including Darfur. Prof. R.S. O’Fahey, the premier historian of Darfur, has a website dedicated to his research in Darfur. Continue reading →

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Posted on behalf of Hassan E. Talib. Hassan is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), in Khartoum, Sudan Press conference diplomacy has been resorted to by Sudanese partners of Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed between

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Posted on behalf of Peter Schumann, a former UNDP staff member with extensive experience in UN Peacekeeping operations, most recently as the Regional Coordinator and Representative of UNMIS in Southern Sudan

One of the last activities I was involved with was facilitating to strengthen the political relationship between the SPLM and the ‘Darfur Rebels’–we had two very important meetings in Juba, pre and post Abuja. Continue reading →

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This posting continues a discussion of the main themes of War in Darfur and the Search for Peace (Harvard University Press 2007). The second part of the book draws on an appraisal of the Darfur peace process, conducted shortly after

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Moments of crisis are also moments of opportunity. Sudan at the present has all the dimensions of an imminent crisis that could unravel the major achievements of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the uncertain progress towards democracy. The sharpest manifestation

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War in Darfur and the Search for Peace is a collection of 15 essays by six Sudanese and eleven non-Sudanese scholars and specialists, published in September 2007 by Harvard University Press. This is the first of two postings that provides an outline of the origins of the book, its significance, and some of the main threads of the argument. This posting focuses on the "turbulent state" framework for understanding Sudan’s persistent dysfunction. Continue reading →

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President Jimmy Carter on his recent visit to Sudan was outspoken in his criticism of the Sudan government, which he accused of “ethnic cleansing” and a “crime against humanity.” But he also argued that it was “unhelpful” to describe the

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Too much of the attention to Darfur has overlooked that it is part of Sudan, and that a peace agreement in Darfur makes sense only as a buttress to the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement. In today’s Los Angeles Times I have an oped drawing attention to the dangers of a stalling or collapse of the CPA, prompted by the October 11 SPLM pullout from the Government of National Unity. Continue reading →

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Posted on behalf of Julie Flint.

Two questions about the original posting about the attack on the AMIS base in Haskanita:

1. The attackers have been "clearly identified" as rebels. Clearly identified by whom? And what makes the identification "clear"? I very much doubt that AMIS personnel in Haskanita had much interaction with the mass of rebels in Haskanita, and the evidence I have seen suggests that no rebel leaders participated in the attack. As one investigator says, those who did were "some way down the food chain".

2. The attack was "clearly planned and premeditated". I think evidence is needed to support this statement. I personally do not have it. One of those inside the base during the attack has said that the men who attacked the base were "very drunk". They "ransacked and looted EVERYTHING"¦ They took all the food, fuel, vehicles, ransacked the clinic." This does not suggest a "clearly planned" attack. It suggests a drunken rampage.
Continue reading →

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An article by Abdul Mohammed posted in today’s Sudan Tribune defends the AU against those who have criticized or demeaned the AU. For more than two years, we have heard a chorus of complaints that the AU is inadequate, incompetent, or biased, both in its peacekeeping mission and its diplomatic efforts. The criticisms need to be taken seriously. But the AU and its role need to be assessed objectively–and there is much to defend. Continue reading →

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