TURALEI, Sudan — As the rainy season begins in this tiny rural village in southern Sudan, thousands of frightened women and children are seeking cover under makeshift shelters of bedsheets and rugs, strung up between tree branches lodged in the mud. They fled their homes in the contested north-south border region of Abyei a little […]
Archives for May 2011
Seizure of Abyei raises war fears
May 31, 2011 by Leave a Comment
[Published in print on May 28, 2011] JUBA, South Sudan – Weeks before southern Sudan formally breaks from the north, the region is on edge. Harried government officials and army officers rush to meetings in the capital of the soon-to-be nation as rumors circulate that the north intends to occupy territory all along the border. […]
Abyei, Sudan and the threat of civil war
May 25, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The residents of Abyei, the largest town of the contested border region between north and south Sudan, have deserted their homes in search of safety after the northern government took the town by force this weekend. The seizure of the town follows an ambush by a southern group on a convoy of northern forces who […]
Back to Sudan
May 23, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Hi everyone Following the events in Abyei this weekend, I am heading back to Sudan. I remain hopeful that, peering over the brink to a return to war, cool heads will prevail and that the usual Sudanese style of “managing” the crisis, in lieu of actually solving it, will at least limit the devastation for […]
Carnegie Council
May 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs hosted a discussion on what Fighting for Darfur tells us about the benefits and challenges of citizen engagement in foreign policy.
Partial understanding, partial solutions?
May 20, 2011 by 2 Comments
Today’s question, co-hosted by Texas in Africa: A mass movement approach to atrocity prevention must, by definition, bring in people who do not have a background with the history of the country for whose people they are being encouraged to advocate for. In Fighting for Darfur, advocacy movement leader, Sam Bell says “Looking back, I […]
Hypocrisy on human rights
May 18, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Next question, co-hosted on Sahel Blog: Throughout Fighting for Darfur, the Sudanese government argues that the U.S. is hypocritical in calling for pressure against Khartoum, while turning a blind eye to its own human rights record in Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. How much of an impact did this argument have on European nations? What about […]
What is the best role for citizen voices in foreign policy?
May 16, 2011 by 3 Comments
A View From The Cave will be co-hosting today’s question so feel free to check out the discussion over there as well. Here goes: There are views along a spectrum about the appropriate role for citizens in the foreign policy process. On one view, citizens should focus solely on “noise-making” – akin to the ‘bumper-sticker’ […]
Would reforming the UN Security Council improve its ability to respond to mass atrocities?
May 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
The conversation around UN Security Council reform had a lot of momentum in 2006, and has continued to be pushed by some states who do not have permanent seats on the council. What difference might proposed reforms make to the council’s response to situations like Darfur? In Fighting for Darfur China often used the threat […]
What about the responsibilities of policymakers?
May 8, 2011 by 3 Comments
Fighting for Darfur spends a lot of time looking at successes and failings of activists. But what about the policymakers they were targeting? The next set of questions tries to get at the intersection of citizen engagement and policy formulation from the perspective of those who are responsible for policy inside the government: Darfur activists […]
