Darfur And The International Community

Darfur has become synonymous with suffering. A vast, remote and poor region, Darfur has been torn by armed conflict and humanitarian crises, and haunted by the spectres of ethnic cleansing and genocide. After it broke onto the international stage in 2004 and grew into one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, the Darfur conflict presented the international community with dramatic challenges. How could the international community stop the fighting in Darfur? How could it save lives and help the two million people displaced by the conflict? And how could the international community - or those who wanted to act - bring about peace in Darfur and at the same time ensure that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement for the wider war between 1983 and 2005 was implemented? Here, Richard Barltrop draws on original research inside and outside Sudan, including extensive interviews with Sudanese and others who have been involved in Sudan's conflicts, politics and peace talks since 1983 and before, and official Sudanese and international sources. Tracing the history of international responses to the conflicts in Sudan, Barltrop investigates what determined the outcomes of international mediation and relief in Sudan. He shows that Darfur must be seen within the wider pattern of conflict in Sudan, and that both Sudan and the international community have missed opportunities to respond more effectively to the fundamental drivers of conflict in the country. As he explains, lessons should be drawn from this for Sudan and for the practice of conflict resolution elsewhere in the world today and in the future. This ground-breaking and insightful book offers crucial analysis for policymakers, mediators and humanitarian and development workers, as well as students and general readers who wish to deepen their understanding of Africa's largest country and the major political and humanitarian challenges it has posed for the international community.

This updated edition of The World and Darfur brings together genocide scholars from a range of disciplines - social history, art history, military history, African studies, media studies, literature, political science, and sociology - to provide a cohesive and nuanced understanding of the international response to the crisis in Western Sudan. Contributing authors, including Eric Reeves, Frank Chalk, Eric Markusen, and Samuel Totten, look at the lessons learned from the United Nations' failure to intervene during the Rwandan genocide, the representation of Darfur in the mainstream media, atrocity investigations, activist and NGO campaigns, art exhibitions and political rhetoric, and the role of the international community in the discourse of genocide prevention and intervention. For a complete list of contributors please visit www.mqup.ca

Praise for the 2005 Edition: "A passionate and highly readable account of the current tragedy that combines intimate knowledge of the region's history, politics, and sociology with a telling cynicism about the polite but ineffectual diplomatic efforts to end it. It is the best account available of the Darfur crisis."-Foreign Affairs "Does the conflict in Darfur, however bloody, qualify as genocide? Or does the application of the word ‛genocide’ to Darfur make it harder to understand this conflict in its awful peculiarity? Is it possible that applying a generic label to Darfurian violence makes the task of stopping it harder? Or is questioning the label simply insensitive, implying that whatever has happened in Darfur isn't horrible enough to justify a claim on the world's conscience, and thus invite inaction or even the dismissal of Darfur altogether? These questions lie at the heart of a much-needed new book by Gerard Prunier. In this book, Prunier casts aside labels and lays bare the anatomy of the Darfur crisis, drawing on a mixture of history and journalism to produce the most important book of the year on any African subject."-Salon.com "The emergency in Darfur in western Sudan is far from over, as Gérard Prunier points out in this comprehensive and authoritative book. . . . He concisely covers the history, the conflicts, and the players. . . . This book is essential for anyone wanting to learn about this complex conflict."-Library Journal "If Darfuris are Muslim, what is their quarrel with the Islamic government in Khartoum? If they and the janjaweed-‛evil horsemen’-driving them from their homes are both black, how can it be Arab versus African? If the Sudanese government is making peace with the south, why would it be risking that by waging war in the west? Above all, is it genocide? Gérard Prunier has the answers. An ethnographer and renowned Africa analyst, he turns on the evasions of Khartoum the uncompromising eye that dissected Hutu power excuses for the Rwanda genocide a decade ago."-The Guardian Darfur: A 21st Century Genocide explains what lies behind the conflict in Western Sudan, how it came about, why it is should not be oversimplified, and why it is so relevant to the future of Africa. As the world watches, governments decide if, when, and how to intervene, and international organizations struggle to distribute aid, Gérard Prunier's book provide crucial assistance. The third edition features a new chapter covering events through mid-2008.

In 2003 and 2004, Darfur became the epicentre of an international crisis. The three Darfur states, the size of Texas, lie in the largest African state - Sudan. Darfur itself has a complex tribal, ethnic and linguistic composition, and the complexities of the conflict have been magnified by international and regional events. But this is no excuse for the disinformation and confusion about Darfur. This book analyses the causes and course of the war as well as the obstacles to peace. In so doing, it challenges accusations of genocide and racism made against the government of Sudan. It is also critical of much of the simplistic and often inaccurate media coverage of the war. Most important of all, the book examines the road map to peace in Darfur.

In 2003, Darfur started to attract the attention of the international community following the outbreak of the conflict. Since then, much is being written on what is happening on the ground, much less about the root causes of the conflict, and that is the reason why it has been looked at from a political perspective rather than from a scientific one. It has been described by many as genocide, resembling the tragedy of the 21st century. A tragedy of climate change explains how the adverse of climate change has affected Darfur since the 1970s, and how the affect has intensified since the 1980s when the region witnessed a severe drought and famine. These symptoms include the expanding desertification, the decreased rainfall and the land degradation left dire consequences. As a result, more Darfurians are competing for access to land, water, and other natural resources than at any other time. The increased competition only further aggravates the already uneasy political, social, and ethnic relationships in the Darfur region. This book seeks to critically analyze the role of climate change in intrastate conflicts in less developed countries, and links between climate change and the untraditional concept of security threats.

This important reference work offers students a comprehensive overview of the Darfur Genocide, with roughly 100 in-depth articles by leading scholars on an array of topics and themes and more than a dozen key primary source documents. Stretching beyond Darfur to situate Sudan within the scope of its African, colonial, human rights, and genocidal history, this reference work explores every aspect of the Darfur Genocide. Covering hundreds of years, this book explores the religious, ethnic, and cultural roots of Sudanese identity-making and how it influenced the shape of the genocide that erupted in 2004. As the first reference guide on the Darfur Genocide, this text will enable readers to explore an array of critical topics related to the atrocities in Sudan. The book opens with seven key essays collectively providing an overview of the genocide, its causes and consequences, international reaction, and profiles on the main perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. These are followed by entries on such crucial topics as the African Union, child soldiers, the Janjaweed, and the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan. Leading scholars offer perspective essays on the primary cause of the Darfur Genocide and on whether the conflict in Darfur is a just case for intervention. Expertly curated primary documents enrich readers' ability to understand the complexity of the genocide.

Long-simmering conflict in the Sudanese region of Darfur came to a boil in the spring of 2003 and became a focus of American media attention in September 2004. After the genocide in Rwanda the international community developed a new way to deal with genocide-the 'Responsibility to Protect' doctrine which legitimized intervention in case of egregious loss of human life. Despite this new doctrine, it took over five years of conflict in Darfur before the U. N. began intervening. The Responsibility to Protect in Darfur: The Role of Mass Media, traces the development of international intervention in domestic conflict, culminating in the concept of 'Responsibility to Protect' in 2001. The authors explain the background and complexity of the crisis besetting Darfur, and document U.S. media coverage of the crisis in terms of framing that would mobilize public opinion behind international intervention. The book traces evolution in international norms regarding state sovereignty and human rights that led to the articulation of 'Responsibility to Protect' and its subsequent adoption by the international community in 2005. It provides an understanding of the complex nature of the Darfur crises, in a way that was seriously lacking in media coverage. The authors also analyze the affects media coverage of the crisis had on the world's reaction, particularly in the U.S. Specifically it looks at television coverage of the crisis, and the newspaper coverage, particularly through The New York Times. Finally, the authors ask if 'Responsibility to Protect' was helpful in Darfur, and if it will be in the future for other countries.