The Current Crisis in Darfur

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The Current Crisis in Darfur

• And the way it is related to the conflict in the
  South

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The Conflict in Darfur

• In April 2003, rebel groups in Darfur attacked
  the Sudanese military.
• The government has engaged in counter-insurgency
  measures through the janjaweed against civilian
  populations by bombing 700 villages and killing
  and raping people.
• 2 million internally displaced people.

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Root Causes of the Conflict

• 1984-1985 drought shrunk grazing resources,
  causing conflicts with agriculturalists.
• Like the South, Darfur suffered from
  underdevelopment in both colonial and
  postcolonial eras.
• The Sudanese government is trying to remain in
  power and the country under control.

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Root Causes of the Conflict Ethnicity?

• Ethnicity very complicated in the region
• Both rebel and janjaweed are Muslim.
• Arab is certainly associated with higher status
  and the government in Khartoum, but not seen as
  Arabs by those in the Middle East.
• Those in Western Sudan seen as poorer cousins to
  those in Khartoum.

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US Foreign Policy towards Sudan

• The US does not want to upset the Sudanese
  government because
• It does not want to upset the Southern peace
  agreement, which was very important to
  evangelical Christians in the US.
• The Sudanese government is giving the US
  information on the war on terror.
• Access to oil?

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The Role of China

• China has been blocking UN resolutions on
  sanctioning the Sudanese government
• Sudan supplies 7 of Chinas total oil imports
• Chinas growing role in Africa re infrastructure
  construction, Africa as a retail market for
  Chinese goods and arms, political alliances
  (Taiwan, supporting African bid for a seat on the
  UN security council)