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Analysis: Vying for Peace in Sudan

Council on Foreign Relations

June 15, 2007
Prepared by: Stephanie Hanson

After much diplomatic wrangling and months of stalling by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Khartoum has agreed to the deployment of a joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force in its western Darfur region. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called Sudan’s acceptance “a milestone development” (Reuters), but the agreement was greeted with widespread skepticism. “Rather than cheer, Darfur watchers mostly reacted with a yawn,” said a Los Angeles Times editorial.

The agreement, a revision of the three-phase plan Bashir accepted in November 2006, calls for overall command of the force by the United Nations and daily operational command by the African Union. Priority will be given to African peacekeepers, but non-Africans will be included (in a proportion that is yet to be determined). Logistical constraints mean the force, expected to be roughly twenty thousand troops, will not be deployed until next year. In the meantime, the security situation in Darfur remains dire, and some, including Sudan expert Eric Reeves, say the scope of the humanitarian emergency is underreported. This Crisis Guide illustrates the history of the conflict in Darfur and the international response.

As the world waits to see if the latest agreement is real, experts caution that a hybrid force—the fixation of international efforts for nearly a year—is not a solution. They say only a sustained and strong diplomatic push to advance peace negotiations between the Sudanese government and Darfur’s rebels can stabilize Darfur. The May 2006 Darfur Peace Agreement, which was only signed by one of Darfur’s rebel groups, has failed to bring security to the area, and in its aftermath the rebels have splintered into a dozen groups. Attempts to revive the long-neglected peace process have floundered, and there is little consensus on how to move forward.

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.