Genocide and International Failure in Darfur,

1989-2009

 

 

á     What are the origins of the crisis in Darfur?

á     Why, after Rwanda, has the international community failed to act decisively to solve it?

 

Key Terms

1) Darfur

2) British ÒBenign NeglectÓ

3) North-South War

4) NIF

5) Omar al-Bashir

6) Janjiwid

 

I.  The History of Darfur (Home of the Fur) to 1956

 

á     An ÒEthnic and Tribal MosaicÓ:  Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa  -- Six Arab Tribes

 

á     The Fur Kingdom (pre-1600) and Islamicization

 

á     The Darfur Sultanate (1598-1916)

 

á     The Egyptian Empire and the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium

 

á     The Mahdist Rebellion and Mahdist State (1881-1898)

á     Reconquest of Sudan, Ali DinarÕs Sultanate (1898-1916),  and ÒBenign NeglectÓ

 

á     Darfur, the British, and Continued Neglect

 

II.  Sudan since Independence:  A Study in Failure

 

á     Disappointed Hopes and Military Rule

 

á     Islamicization, Arabization, and the North-South (Christian/Animist) Civil War

¤  Sudanese PeopleÕs Liberation Movement

 

á     DarfurÕs Continued Neglect

á     Environmental Degradation, Water, and Land:  Farmers (Africans) vs. Grazers (Arabs)

 

III.  The Origins of the Darfur Conflict

 

The 1989 Coup and the NIF Islamist Regime:  The ÒBad GuysÓ

                     The National Islamist Front

                     Omar al-Bashir

                     Hassan Turabi

 

 

1994              Division of Darfur

 

1996              The Origins of the Janjawid (Devil on Horseback):  Attacks on the Masalit

 

1997-1998      The ÒArab Alliance,Ó Arabist Ideology, and the Sudanese
                      Government

 

1998-2001      Attacks Continue, People of Darfur (Fur, Masalit, Zaghawa) Unite

                      The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM, 2001)

                      Sudan Liberation Army (SLA)

 

Feb 2003        Darfur Rebellion Begins

 

Spring 2003    Janjawid and Sudanese Government ÒCounterattackÓ

Destruction of Darfur Begins 1 2 3

Video: Perpetrators Speak

 

Jan 2004         International Media Reports, International Community ÒReactsÓ

 

2005              Peace Process Begins, Sudan Exploits Opportunity

                      African Union Peacekeepers Deployed

 

May 2006       Darfur Peace Agreement:  Signed, Not Implemented

 

2006-2008      Crisis Continues, Sudan Refuses UN Peacekeepers, Fighting Spreads to Chad

 

March 2009    Omar Bashir Indicted by International Criminal Court (ICC), Arrest Warrant Issued

 

2008-2009      War Over or Regrouping for a New Fight? Rebel Fragmentation and Uneasy Peace

 

 

IV.  The Weakness of the International Response

 

1) The North-South Peace Negotiations and Settlement (2005)

2) Sudan Discovers Oil, and China Discovers Darfur

3) Sudan and the ÒWar on TerrorÓ:  Cooperation from a Terrorist State

4) US Criticism:  Rhetoric vs. Resolve; Iraq & Afghanistan

5) Lack of Will:  If not the USA, then who?  Europe? The UN? The African Union?

 

ObamaÕs New Sudan Policy

Brian Steidle of The Devil Came on Horseback discusses Darfur. (click here)