Sudan has been riddled by civil conflict since it’s independence in 1956. This has to a great extent stemmed from the political dominance of Muslim, Arab northerners over the non-Muslim Southern population. Two civil wars have decimated the country. The second, from 1983 to 2005, was estimated to have displaced 4 million people and caused 2 million deaths. However, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement brought relative peace. These meetings established the Government of national Unity – a Southerner (currently Salva Kiir) assumes the Vice-Presidency of the country.

The Peace Agreement also gave the Southern militarised opposition - the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army - autonomy to rule the South for 6 years. A referendum is planned for 2011 to decide whether the South will be reintegrated into Sudan or remain permanently independent. It is thought that the South will vote in favour of independence – an outcome that could prove problematic for peace in the region, as a significant proportion of Sudan’s oil wealth is situated in the heavily contested border area somewhat arbitrarily dividing the two notional states.

Sudan is a vast country – a 2,500,000 km square multi-ecological giant - bordered by Egypt, Libya, Chad, CAR, DRC, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea -  whose own internal problems have been known to spill into, or combine with the regional instabilities of their neighbour. This is particularly the case with Chad/Darfur and Uganda/South Sudan in which refugees, proxy militarised groups and national armies have crossed over borders with virtual impunity in pursuance of their own particular regional interests or personal security.

The Sudanese national identity is, in the words of Gerard Prunier ‘hopelessly split between and Arab North, Black Christian South and an often overlooked African Muslim West’ (largely referring to Darfur.) John Garang – former leader of the Southern Peoples Liberation Movement – saw the rule of Sudan’s majority peripheral populations (not simply Southerners) by a small Arab elite as being the fundamental reason for his movement’s struggle.

Over the last decade, a break-away conflict has also been developing in the Western Darfur region. Since 2003, the Arab-run Central Sudanese Government has been attacking black non-Muslim Africans in Darfur. This started after Black African groups the Sudan liberation Army/Movement and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) took up arms against the central Arab government, accusing it of oppressing indigenous Black Africans in the region. The Janjaweed, a militia group comprised of Afro-Arab tribesman from the North has been carrying out atrocities against black communities in Darfur since the outbreak of violence, purportedly on behalf of the central government.

Darfur is now a humanitarian crisis, with varying estimates placing the number of casualties anywhere between twenty thousand and several hundred thousand. A fragile ceasefire was signed in February 2010, to encourage peace talks but the JEM has recently said it will boycott further talks after allegations of further atrocities by the Central Sudanese government in Darfur. President Bashir was indicted by the ICC due to alleged involvement in the 'genocide' occurring in Darfur.

There are various contested explanations for conflict in Sudan and short statements (such as the above) risk simplifying a region with a vast and complex history not easily summarised in a few sentences. For the best information on Darfur specifically, and Sudan in general then visit Sudan specialist Alex de Waal’s blog Making sense of Sudan

In addition, the RAS recommends the following articles available online:

Mahmoud Mamdani – London Review of Books ‘The politics of naming: genocide, politics and insurgency.’ – an excellent provocative article with some good responses – including one from regional specialist Gerard Prunier.

Alex de Waal’s LRB article ‘Counter insurgency on the cheap’ is also an enthralling and historically informative read.

Recommended readings (available at RAS bookstore)

Julie Flint and Alex de Waal - Darfur: A new history of a long war

Douglas H. Johnson - The root causes of Sudan's civil wars

Al-Tayyib Salih - Season of migration to the north

RAS Analysis

Richard Dowden South Sudan: Africa's newest country

Sudan Referendum 2011: what next?

Key facts

Useful links

Rift Valley Institute An independent research and educational association based in Kenya and in the UK. Good links and materials on Sudan.

Sudan Open Archive It is the digital library for Sudan of the Rift Valley Institute. It offers free digital access to knowledge about regions of Sudan.

Justice Africa Justice Africa's website on Sudan

Making Sense of Darfur SSRC blog on Darfur edited by Alex de Waal.

Columbia links for Sudan African Studies internet resources from Columbia University.

Country specific links Country specific internet resources from the University of Pennsylvania African Studies centre.

Government Links Links to every government related site on the web. The database includes national & regional institutions, representations abroad, political parties and additional information such as political resources, tourism, and human rights sites.

Kidon Media Link - Sudan Links to newspapers and other media sources in various languages.

MENIC Middle East Network Information Center (MENIC) is an online guide to Middle East-related websites and databased that can be accessed via the World Wide Web.

Sudan.net Good site for overall background on Sudan, with many links to related sites.

Sudan Tribune News on Sudan in English.

University of Khartoum Official website of the university.

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