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Analysis: Sudan Strife Bleeds across Borders

Council on Foreign Relations

January 2, 2007
Prepared by: Stephanie Hanson

Four months after the UN Security Council approved an UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan’s Darfur region, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir continues to bar such troops, as well as a hybrid AU-UN force offered as a compromise. Recent international efforts to budge Bashir have involved everyone from British Prime Minster Tony Blair to actor George Clooney. Blair announced he would back a no-fly zone (BBC) over Sudan, while Clooney urged China and Egypt to pressure Khartoum. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan pushed in vain for a force before he left office; Slate offers the text of a letter Annan sent to Bashir in November and Bashir's recent ambiguous response. Even if Bashir accepts the force, a report from the UN peacekeeping office (obtained by the Financial Times) challenges the Security Council resolution, warning there is no peace for such a force to maintain, and any deployment "should be contingent on a cessation of hostilities."

While the international community ties itself in knots trying to work out a diplomatic solution, Sudan’s neighbors— Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR)—face growing instability. Rebel groups in both countries seek to overthrow their presidents, and fighting between government troops and rebels has forced tens of thousands of civilians to flee. Many have been living in the forests of northeastern CAR for nearly a year, and some fifty thousand have fled across the border into Chad out of desperation (CSMonitor).

A new CFR.org Backgrounder looks at the dismal state of humanitarian aid in each country, the motives of the rebel groups, and how each country’s government has addressed—or exacerbated—the crisis. A BBC map illustrates the spreading zone of conflict.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.