African Arguments

Top Menu

  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Swaziland
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • #EndSARS
  • Specials
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
  • About Us
  • Write for us
  • Contact us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • RSS feed
  • Donate

logo

African Arguments

  • Home
  • Country
    • Central
      • Cameroon
      • Central African Republic
      • Chad
      • Congo-Brazzaville
      • Congo-Kinshasa
      • Equatorial Guinea
      • Gabon
    • East
      • Burundi
      • Comoros
      • Dijbouti
      • Eritrea
      • Ethiopia
      • Kenya
      • Rwanda
      • Seychelles
      • Somalia
      • South Sudan
      • Sudan
      • Tanzania
      • Uganda
      • Red Sea
    • North
      • Algeria
      • Egypt
      • Libya
      • Morocco
      • Tunisia
      • Western Sahara
    • Southern
      • Angola
      • Botswana
      • Lesotho
      • Madagascar
      • Malawi
      • Mauritius
      • Mozambique
      • Namibia
      • South Africa
      • Swaziland
      • Zambia
      • Zimbabwe
    • West
      • Benin
      • Burkina Faso
      • Cape Verde
      • Côte d’Ivoire
      • The Gambia
      • Ghana
      • Guinea
      • Guinea Bissau
      • Liberia
      • Mali
      • Mauritania
      • Niger
      • Nigeria
      • São Tomé and Príncipe
      • Senegal
      • Sierra Leone
      • Togo
  • Politics
    • Elections Map
  • Economy
  • Society
  • Culture
  • #EndSARS
  • Specials
    • Covid-19
    • Travelling While African
    • From the wit-hole countries…
    • Living in Translation
    • Red Sea
    • Beautiful Game
  • Debating Ideas
Politics

U.S. and Sudan: On the Virtue of Clarity

By Alex de Waal
October 21, 2009
1177
3
Share:

The U.S. Sudan strategy is now published. After seven months of often public acrimony, the Administration has adopted its policy.

One of the major benefits of Monday’s step was that, for the first time for several years, the Sudanese parties have a clear idea of the U.S. position, including clarity who speaks for the government (the Special Envoy). During the last few years, progress in Sudanese political affairs has been hampered by incessant second-guessing about Washington’s position. The Sudan government was reluctant to make concessions, fearful that these would be gobbled up by a hungry America which would then merely demand more. Khartoum’s political opponents were encouraged to hold out for a better deal that might be around the corner, should the U.S. take a harder line. With a clear American position, those days should now be past.

Doubtless there are quibbles about the details of the policy. I have mine. On Monday I debated on Al Jazeera with Jerry Fowler of the Save Darfur Coalition. He has his misgivings too. But any criticisms are trivial compared with the value of the U.S. having a common position.

Of course there is no U.S. “blueprint” for Sudan–that is for the Sudanese, not the Americans. Of course many of the details remain confidential–it would be counterproductive to put the specifications of “smart sanctions” or fallback negotiating positions into the public realm.

I hope that there can now be a truce among those in the U.S. who care about Sudan. Any further attempts to undermine the Special Envoy will only have one outcome: it will damage the efforts to achieve a political settlement that can benefit the Sudanese people.

The next year is the most crucial year in Sudan’s history. If the Special Envoy is hobbled by sniping then the best chances for political progress will be lost. Worse, if he were forced out, the most likely outcome would be six months of paralysis while a replacement were found (if anyone could be persuaded to take on this uniquely thankless job, with modest hope of reward and a likelihood of being subjected to campaigns of personal abuse).

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have been enthused by the cause of Darfur. The campaign was launched during the firestorm of 2004, born of outrage. Today it is possible to go to Darfur and hold open and frank discussions with Darfurians, and ask them what they want. Thabo Mbeki and the African Union Panel on Darfur have spent months doing precisely that. America’s Darfur activists should follow suit: they will find a lot of ideas and proposal for practical actions.

Previous Article

Sudan: Avoiding Political Violence Through 2011?

Next Article

Alex de Waal, “Brave Thinker”

mm

Alex de Waal

Alex de Waal is Research Professor and Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. He was the founding editor of the African Arguments book series. He is the author of The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power.

3 comments

  1. Bill Bray 22 October, 2009 at 11:10

    While I too am gratified that the U.S. strategy is finally published, I believe the chief problem with it is that some of the explicit or implied U.S. commitments, coupled with U.S. action required to put into force some of the disincentives, are simply not credible. If I were a GOSS leader, I would be tuned in carefully to the current U.S. debate over the mission in Afghanistan. It appears the U.S. president is reconsidering the very strategy he so forcefully championed in March. If this administration is wavering on resourcing a mission with clear U.S. national security interests, who believes it will follow up on this gem: “Sustainable secession of the South would necessitate increased international nation-building effort requiring a high degree of U.S. commitment, leadership, and resources…”

    Under strategic objectives #2 and #3 (Implementation of the CPA that results in peaceful unity or separation), the NCP in particular is already engaged in several activities that can only be considered ‘backsliding’ and that should trigger disincentives, and some of the benchmarks (like free and fair elections by April 2010) are probably logistically impossible at this point.

    The strategy, then, has major credibility problems and seems to be, in many cases, way behind activity on the ground.

  2. Cady 25 October, 2009 at 13:42

    Alex de Waal – Thoughts on this Sudan Tribune article by Izzadine Abdul Rasoul about Abu Sharati? It’s curious… http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article32903

  3. Alex de Waal 25 October, 2009 at 17:12

    Dear Cady, no, this article by Izzadine is not a spoof. It’s beneath comment. Alex

Leave a reply Cancel reply

  • Lesotho night
    LesothoPhoto of the WeekPolitics

    Lesotho’s night before the elections: Photo of the Week/Explainer

  • MalawiPolitics

    Malawi faces toughest, most high-profile trial yet in massive Cashgate scandal

  • Politics

    Understanding Darfur’s Arab Militia

The Africa Insiders Newsletter

Get the free edition of our exclusive look at this week’s most important developments on the continent.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

  • 77283
    Followers

Interactive Elections Map

Keep up to date with all the African elections.

Most read

  • africa elections 2021

    Africa Elections 2021: All the upcoming votes

  • In Aksum, Tigrayan region of Ethiopia. Credit: Rod Waddington.

    As a Tigrayan, my bond with Ethiopia feels beyond repair

  • The police block opposition presidential candidate Bobi Wine in December 2020 during the Uganda presidential election campaign. Credit: HEBobiwine.

    Uganda: How donors can go beyond “strongly-worded statements”

  • Tunisians mark Martyrs' Day in Tunis on 9 April 2013 to demand justice for victims of the 2011 revolution. Credit: Magharebia.

    The Tunisian Revolution’s young dreams are unfulfilled but unforgotten

  • ANC Secretary-General Ace Magashule (third from left) at at the 40th commemoration of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu. Credit: : GCIS. south africa corruption

    Down but not out: Corruption in South Africa and the arrest of ANC’s no. 2

Brought to you by


Creative Commons

Creative Commons Licence
Articles on African Arguments are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
  • Cookies
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • en English
    am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu
© Copyright African Arguments 2020
en English
am Amharicar Arabicny Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)en Englishfr Frenchde Germanha Hausait Italianpt Portuguesest Sesothosn Shonaes Spanishsw Swahilixh Xhosayo Yorubazu Zulu