This book provides the most comprehensive, balanced, and nuanced account yet published of the Darfur conflict's roots and the contemporary realities that shape the experiences of those living in the region.
A critical reader that brings together many of the leading thinkers and activists involved in understanding (and proactively addressing) the situation in Darfur, and the Sudan more generally.
This book examines the sources of the genocidal violence in Darfur, and addresses the peace initiatives undertaken to resolve this conflict, using a 'conflict-complementarity' framework.
Contents: (1) Recent Developments: U.S. Policy Toward Sudan; Trilateral Talks and the Abyei Arbitration; The Internat. Criminal Court and Sudan: Background; SPLM Position; U.S. Response; Possible Consequences and New Develop.; Security Conditions in Darfur; North-South Develop.; Peace Talks; Census; Elections; U.N. Peacekeeping; Executive Branch Sanctions; Humanitarian Conditions; (2) China and Sudan; (3) Develop. in S. Sudan; (4) Implementation of the CPA; (5) Darfur Conflict and Impact on Chad and CAR; (6) Crisis in Darfur; Atrocities; Janjaweed; Darfur Peace Agree. and Status of Implement.; U.S. Humanitarian Funding; African Union; Sanctions; Regime Change; Internat. Intervention; Bilateral Targeted Military Measures. Illustrations.
From the Publisher's Website: Each anthology is composed of a wide spectrum of primary sources written by many of the foremost authorities in their respective fields. This unique approach provides students with a concise view of divergent opinions on each topic. Extensive book and periodical bibliographies and a list of organizations to contact are also included.
In mid-2004 the Darfur crisis in Western Sudan forced itself onto the center stage of world affairs. Arab Janjaweed militias, who support the Khartoum government, have engaged in a campaign of violence against the residents of Western Sudan. A formerly obscure tribal conflict in the heart of Africa has escalated into the first genocide of the twenty-first century. In sharp contrast to official reaction to the Rwandan massacres, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called the situation in Darfur a genocide in September 2004. Its characteristics Arabism, Islamism, famine as a weapon of war, mass rape, international obfuscation, and a refusal to look evil squarely in the face reflect many of the problems of the global South in general and of Africa in particular. Journalistic explanations of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe have been given to hurried generalizations and inaccuracies: the genocide has been portrayed as an ethnic clash marked by Arab-on-African violence, with the Janjaweed militias under strict government control, but neither of these impressions is strictly true. Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide explains what lies behind the conflict, how it came about, why it should not be oversimplified, and why it is so relevant to the future of the continent. G rard Prunier sets out the ethnopolitical makeup of the Sudan and explains why the Darfur rebellion is regarded as a key threat to Arab power in the country much more so than secessionism in the Christian South. This, he argues, accounts for the government s deployment of exemplary violence by the Janjaweed militias in order to intimidate other African Muslims into subservience. As the world watches, governments decide if, when, and how to intervene, and international organizations struggle to distribute aid, the knowledge in Prunier's book will provide crucial assistance.
In 2003 and 2004, Darfur became the epicentre of an international crisis. The three Darfur states, the size of Texas, lie in the largest African state - Sudan. Darfur itself has a complex tribal, ethnic and linguistic composition, and the complexities of the conflict have been magnified by international and regional events. But this is no excuse for the disinformation and confusion about Darfur. This book analyses the causes and course of the war as well as the obstacles to peace. In so doing, it challenges accusations of genocide and racism made against the government of Sudan. It is also critical of much of the simplistic and often inaccurate media coverage of the war. Most important of all, the book examines the road map to peace in Darfur.
"Prunier's elucidation of Rwanda's history seems to me to be beyond praise. He has reconstructed the entire process by which a through modern genocide was planned. He has read all the documents. He has interviewed both perpetrators and survivors. He has anatomized the cold process of mass murder in both theory and practice." Christopher Hitchens, Washington Post.