Breaking Sudan

After decades of civil war, the people of southern Sudan voted to secede from the north in an attempt to escape the seemingly endless violence. On declaring independence, South Sudan was one of the least developed places on earth, but with the ability to draw upon significant oil reserves worth $150 million a month, the foundation for a successful future was firmly in place. How, then, did the state of the new nation deteriorate even further, to the point that a new civil war broke out two years later? Today, with both Sudans still hostage to the aspirations of their military and political leaders, how can their people escape the violence that has dominated the two countries’ recent history? By giving voice to those who, after the break-up of Sudan, have had to find ways to live, trade and communicate with one another, Jok Madut Jok provides a moving insight into a crisis that has only rarely made it into our headlines. Breaking Sudan is a meticulous account, analyzing why violence became so deeply entrenched in Sudanese society and exploring what can be done to find peace in two countries ravaged by war.

This definitive political history from an ambassador of the Republic of Sudan unravels the background that led to the fracturing of a country. Author and ambassador Dr. Khidir Haroun Ahmed takes us on a journey as he traces the historical and internal/external factors that led to the division of Sudan and altered the political map of Africa. Spanning the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The Making and Breaking of the United Sudan explores colonial rule, unstable national governments, and disruptive foreign intervention, which led to Sudan's civil war and changed the geography of Sudan. Ahmed's chronicle also focuses on understanding Sudan politics and explains the eventual establishment of two separate national governments in the region. This fascinating account of the formation and dissolution of a United Sudan offers an honest assessment of change and consequences. It provides a look at what worked and what failed and exposes the detrimental policies motivated by political agendas rather than the good of the people.

The people of South Sudan sacrificed for decades to achieve independence. A political power struggle and the outbreak of fighting across Sudan-South Sudan has led to the loss of thousands of lives. Hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have now been displaced. With both sides digging in their heels, there is no end in sight. Since South Sudan's independence, experts have been sounding the alarm about rising internal tensions. The entire cabinet was sacked. Many journalists were assassinated. Humanitarian aid workers were expelled from the country. Forceful actions are needed before this new country is completely torn apart. Failing to resolve the current crisis will cost countless human lives and all but guarantee state failure in a strategically important region.

Sudan has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. After decades of civil war, rebel uprisings and power struggles, in 2011 it gave birth to the world’s newest country – South Sudan. But it’s not been an easy transition, and the secession that was meant to pave the path to peace, has plunged the region into further chaos. In this updated edition of his ground-breaking investigation, Jok Madut Jok delves deep into Sudan’s culture and history, isolating the factors that continue to cause its fractured national identity. With moving first-hand testimonies, Jok provides a decisive critique of a region in turmoil, and addresses what must be done to break the tragic cycle of racism, poverty and brutality that grips Sudan and South Sudan.

Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005 ended over two decades of civil war and led to South Sudan's independence. Peacemaking that brought about the agreement and then sought to sustain it involved, alongside the Sudanese, an array of regional and western states as well as international organisations. This was a landmark effort to create and sustain peace in a war-torn region. Yet in the years that followed, multiple conflicts continued or reignited, both in Sudan and in South Sudan. Peacemaking attempts multiplied. Authored by both practitioners and scholars, this volume grapples with the question of which, and whose, ideas of peace and of peacemaking were pursued in the Sudans and how they fared. Bringing together economic, legal, anthropological and0political science perspectives on over a decade of peacemaking attempts in the two countries, it provides insights for peacemaking efforts to come, in the Sudans and elsewhere.

The Republic of Sudan's former Culture Minister and a leading architect in the movement to gain independence for South Sudan, Bona Malwal, provides a factual and personal account of the break up of Sudan. He explores its troubled history post-colonialism and offers a frank account of the many challenges that both nations face in the coming years.

First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.