Social Science Research Council

As more details emerge about JEM’s assault on the national capital at the weekend, it is becoming clear that this was a solo operation by JEM directed by its leader Khalil Ibrahim. Its aim was nothing less than taking power.
The role of Chadian President Idriss Deby is now clearer. For two years, Deby armed [...]

Saturday’s battle in the streets of Omdurman was a defeat for the prospects of peace, democracy and human rights. The calculations of the leadership of the Justice and Equality Movement are puzzling–the attack looks much like an act of reckless military escalation, bold and daring no doubt, but possibly suicidal. But it would be surprising [...]

Overview
1. The NCP-SPLM partnership for the CPA stands at a critical juncture. The NCP sees the 2009 elections as its route to internal and international legitimacy and is hoping that problems with the census and elections can be pinned on others (the SPLM, the Darfurians). Both parties have failed to find a compromise to the Abyei [...]

Posted on behalf of Ambassador Hassan E. Talib.
First of all, I would like to extend my gratitude to this blog for allowing this opportunity for the debate on the issue of culture and political conduct of the Islamic Movement in Sudan, including the National Islamic Front (NIF). I thank, as well, Dr. Al-Affendi for his [...]

This contribution is posted on behalf of Abdelwahab El-Affendi
One of the great ironies of the Islamist adventure in coup-making (leading to the creation of the National Salvation regime in June 1989) was that the move dealt a more serious blow to the Islamist movement than it to any other political group. When the government banned [...]

This is the second part of a paper based on a memorandum submitted by Alex de Waal and Abdul Mohammed to the informal consultation on the Darfur mediation, held in Geneva last week.
Part 2: What are the Interests of the Parties in a Negotiated Agreement?
Analysis of the Darfur war today leads inexorably to the conclusion: [...]

This is the first in a series of three postings on the challenges facing the UN-AU Mediation. It is an edited version of a paper written jointly by myself and Abdul Mohammed and presented to the AU-UN informal consultations with the international partners on the mediation strategy held in Geneva last week.
Part 1: Is the [...]

Darfur’s Arabs are back in the spotlight—as victims, as Janjawiid, and as rebels. The relationship between the Sudan government and the Darfur Arabs has never been simple, and it’s not getting any less so now. Most important is to recognize that Darfur’s Arabs—despite their silence—are nobody’s fools.

Posted on behalf of Cara Parks of the New Republic
Yesterday on the New Republic website we ran an editorial on Darfur that I think your readers would really enjoy. The piece uses the declaration of Kosovo’s independence last week to look back at NATO’s involvement in the region — and then compares this experience with [...]

In her posting yesterday, Mia Farrow identifies the success of the "genocide Olympics" campaign—which she was instrumental in starting—as a "defining moment." She is right. For the first time, an international activist movement has compelled the Chinese government to recognize that it has global human rights responsibilities. Beijing’s rebuttal of Stephen Spielberg’s charges is the [...]