Part II of The Sudanese Islamists’ Wars: Processes of Disintegration from Khalil to Turabi Khalil’s War The mutual hostility among the Islamists has been merciless. However, the same al-Turabi supporters who had subjected other political, social, and ethnic groups to

Read the rest of Is Sudan a “Post-Islamist” State? II »

Part I: The Sudanese Islamists’ Wars: Processes of Disintegration from al-Turabi to Khalil In an interview published on 22 May in the London based Saudi Daily al-Sharq al-Awsat, Khalil Ibrahim, leader of Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) confirmed that he

Read the rest of Is Sudan a “Post-Islamist” State? »

The modern history of Sudan is riddled with bloodshed, destruction and squandered chances for peace and democracy. Consistently, the worst case scenario comes to pass and, just when it seems as though things could get no worse, they do precisely

Read the rest of Can Sudan Survive? »

This post is also available in French (PDF, 96KB).

Land has often been described as a key motivation for the Arabs and non-Arabs who actively participated in the “Janjaweed” in Darfur and southeast Chad (see my article “Darfur: a Conflict for Land” in Alex de Waal (ed.), War in Darfur and the Search for Peace.) One of the primary traits of the Darfur crisis (like the Dar Sila crisis in Chad) can be described as a split between those members of the population with territories (hawakir) due to traditional, mainly pre-colonial land rights and those who have none – a split which is not exactly the same as the ethnic divisions between Arabs and non-Arabs that are so often presented without nuance.
Continue reading →

Read the rest of Land and Power: the Case of the Zaghawa »

In the wake of JEM’s attack on Omdurman, a number of correspondents have urged closer, critical examination of the rebel movements. This is long overdue. In the last few weeks, the “movements”—more often than not, shifting collections of commanders rather

Read the rest of Examining the Rebels–At Last »

The text of my presentation to the BBC’s World Tonight last week is now available online. (With a sentence added to reflect JEM’s attack on Khartoum, which occurred between my recording the piece and the time it was broadcast.) The

Read the rest of The “Responsibility to Protect” is Just a Slogan »

Posted on behalf of Abdullahi al Tom. I am dismayed by de Waal’s venomous article on JEM’s invasion of Omdurman code-named “Operation Long Arm”. In this article, de Waal declares that Khartoum security agents have” no justification for arresting affiliates

Read the rest of De Waal Continues Misleading the World on Darfur »

A completely revised and updated (to January 2008) version of the book written by Julie Flint and myself is official launched this week. It’s available in both the UK (Zed Books) and the US (Palgrave-Macmillan). Our earlier “short history” concluded

Read the rest of Darfur: A New History of a Long War »

Last Saturday’s attack on Omdurman represented a serious development in Sudanese politics, with significant ramifications that may impact the entire country. Since its independence in 1956, Sudan has been submerged in a number of civil wars. Wars with the South

Read the rest of Attack on Khartoum: The Ramifications for Sudan »

The World Tonight last night on BBC Radio 4 was a 45 minute special devoted to an examination of the UK’s foreign policy. It was structured around Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s four priorities, viz terrorism, conflict and the responsibility to

Read the rest of Miliband versus de Waal on R2P »