Sudan's crossroads

Sudan is at a crossroads in their country’s history, and we cannot continue to apathetically stand by and watch.

This January, the largest country on the African continent will decide whether or not to break into two separate countries through a countrywide referendum.

They will also decide whether or not the oil rich region of Abyei will remain a part of Northern or Southern Sudan.

This vote will forever change the way the world looks at and interacts with Sudan. But more importantly, it will change the domestic dynamics of Sudan.

For decades, the predominantly Muslim Northern and Christian Southern parts of the country have been fighting.

This fighting has led to the deaths of more than 2 million Sudanese and the displacement of millions more. It has also lead to the genocide occurring in the area of Darfur.

The desire for oil revenues has been a key point of contestation about whether the country will split or not.

Most of the southerners want to form a separate nation from the Northern part of the country.

However, northerners have been opposed to this split because they want to continue receiving oil profits from the Abyei regions.

This has led to negotiations between the regions, which seek to find a way to appease the North, while providing the autonomy the South so greatly desires. This will most likely involve sharing some portion of oil revenues.

Regardless of the costs, the avoidance of more fighting should be the ultimate goal. Sudan has been ravaged by civil war for far too long. These acts can only lead to more destruction and violence.

Though a lot of the major players in world politics are weary of getting involved in Sudan, it is imperative that President Obama and other key figures become active in these talks.

China and the African Union must also stop enabling President Omar Hassan al-Bashir’s actions and start asking for accountability and peace talks to occur.

We must stop allowing people such as Bashir to control how we interact with Sudan. Bashir has been indicted for crimes against humanity by the

International Criminal Court in the Hague but refuses to turn himself in.

Instead, we should forge new relationships outside of Khartoum (the capital city of Sudan) that will help Sudan’s interests, as well as actively work toward protecting our own.

Sudan’s possession of oil reserves should not make it immune to discussion. Rather, we need to become more invested in the fate of Sudan for economic, political and social reasons.

We must ensure that voting on the referendum in Sudan not only takes place in January, but that it is also free and fair. Preparations for voting thus far have been nearly non-existent.

Voter registration has been postponed for months now, and there is still much to do in terms of preparing the staff and ballots.  

These shortcomings prior to the election speak to the necessity of planning and involvement of the global community. Non-partisan global figures must help negotiate between the two groups and make sure that all parties are heard.

Though global participation is necessary in facilitating these important issues, these changes must reflect the wants and needs of the people of Sudan.

The talks must not be centered, as they often are, on what the West thinks African countries and people need, but rather on what Sudan feels will work for them.

You might think Sudan is just another country in Africa, and that its existence doesn’t affect you, but this is the wrong way to think about Sudan.

For far too long, we have neglected to focus on Sudan and other African countries. This has been a huge misstep in our international relations policies.

In neglecting Africa, we are missing out on so many markets and choosing to actively forget about the second most populated continent in the world.

Though there are many reasons to care about Sudan, the top three are to make sure our investments in oil are safe, to broaden the scope of our relationships in Africa and to stop human rights atrocities occurring in Darfur.

Our fate as a nation is inherently linked to the fate of other countries around the world.
In helping secure peace in Sudan, we are also securing our own markets and helping make a better America.


E-mail: tmkennel@indiana.edu