Monday, October 19, 2009

The Situation of Sudan in the News

Two recent articles dealing with the current situation in Sudan and emerging US policy in that regard have appeared in major news outlets in the past two weeks:

"Africa's Last, Next War," Jason McLure, Newsweek

"U.S. to Engage Sudan Leaders to Uphold Pact With Rebels," Ginger Thompson, The New York Times

The online Newsweek piece offers a compact and (in my opinion) accurate assessment of the current state of affairs and prospects for the future for the north-south relationship in Sudan.

The New York Times article reports on a soon-to-be-released, newly formulated and supposedly consistent US policy toward the national government of Sudan in Khartoum. This comes after months of seemingly incompatible remarks from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice and Special Envoy to Sudan Retired Major General Scott Gratian. In sync with Jason McLure’s observations in the Newsweek piece, I share the concerns of many about the overly optimistic and conciliatory approach of Gratian.

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