Sudan: Contemporary Affairs

Contemporary affairs in Sudan focus on the restoration of stability and peace to the war-torn region. In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army and Khartoum established a semi-autonomous South under a national coalition government. Overall, Darfur has witnessed increasing stabilization in recent years, and refugees have begun returning to the region. However, in a 2011 internationally backed referendum, 99 percent of citizens in Sudan’s southern region voted in favor of independence, and on July 9, 2011 southern Sudan formally seceded and established the independent Republic of South Sudan with the assent of the international community. While the North’s assent to the secession has been viewed as promising, ongoing disputes threaten the tenuous peace between Sudan and South Sudan, oil being central among them. The majority of Sudanese oil is located in South Sudan, but its northern neighbor possesses the pipelines and refineries, and the two regions cannot agree on an appropriate transportation method or fee for the oil. Furthermore, the South’s secession has failed to quell regional conflict, especially with respect to the disputed province of Abyei, located along the Sudan-South Sudan border, leading to rampant border violence. Daily bombings in the Nuba Mountains have expelled aid workers and forced the entire region to live in conditions of near starvation. These recent events have only further debased the international image of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who was indicted by the International Criminal Court in 2010 and 2011 for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and for his role in the genocide in Darfur.