The Root Causes Of Sudan 's Civil Wars : Peace Or Truce By Douglas H. Johnson

According to the conflict theory of dependency, Sudan was taken advantage of, then eventually left on its own. One

Students explore the experiences of people of Southern Sudan during and after the Second Sudanese Civil War.

Darfur is the western region of the African country of Sudan. Currently, the people of Darfur have been continually attacked by the Sudanese army and by proxy-militia controlled by the Sudanese government. Families are being uprooted and starved, children tormented and murdered by the thousands and women raped without punishment. Innocent civilians in Darfur continue to be victims of unthinkable brutality. Many people have become homeless and seek protection in refugee camps in Chad. Yet despite its outward appearance, Darfur has a vast ethnic diversity and a complex, ancient system of resolving conflict. Genocide has occurred in several places around the world, but in Darfur there are certain reasons why it

Throughout history, our world has constantly been bruised and battered by civil turmoil. Today, the civil war in Syria decimates the country; the Israeli and Palestinian conflict rages on; tens of thousands of people have been killed in South Sudan's ongoing civil war. It is not always easy to isolate what exactly ignites the flames of war, but, whenever possible, finding a workable, calm and satisfying solution to a potential uprising is preferable.

40% of sub-Saharan countries have experienced civil war largely because of differences in cultural and political beliefs. On prominent African civil war existed in Nigeria where after gaining their independence, cultural differences led the Ibo people to rebel against the government and declare independence as the Republic of Biafra. “A 3 year war ensued that left hundreds of thousands dead” (Ellis and Esler 1030). Similar wars existed in countries throughout the continent, greatly hurting Africa’s economic

Sudan was well known for its diversity in language, religion, and background. People in northern Sudan are mostly Muslims of Arab descent, while people in southern Sudan follow Christianity and tribal religions and are of African descent. Thus, “Sudan’s population is divided by ethnic, linguistic, and religious differences.” The government was primarily composed of northern Sudanese, who had lots of power and control over the country’s matters. Southern Sudanese, on the other hand, had little say in the government and their autonomy and rights were harshly limited. This led to the first civil war between the Sudanese government and the SPLA, or the Sudan People’s

In 2005, the Civil War in Sudan which has been going on for two decades has finally resolved through the signing of the “Comprehensive Peace Agreement” (CPA). The placement of the CPA was to reform the government into a democracy, also to unify North and South Sudan and to bring peace to Sudan. Unfortunately, the CPA didn’t bring any of those things to Sudan. The failures of the CPA relates back to the oil pipelines, because North Sudan and South Sudan need one another to produce profit from the oil in the country. So if the country isn’t unified the country will remain unstable.

In 1998, fighting began over what is said to be a minor border dispute, as well as differences on ethnicity and economic progress. This is highly understandable considering the various ethnicities in each country, the religious differences, and the tribal conflicts that have been taking place in the region. This fighting began a two-year long war, in which countless men and women were killed and the economies of the two countries ravaged by the military expenditures (Abbink, 2003, p. 410-16). In the end, Ethiopia’s size, military power, and armament won out over Eritrea’s enthusiasm, and the two countries formed a tenuous peace that has lasted through the present (Abbink, 2003, p. 416-17).

The Sudanese Civil War is a conflict in Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces of the north and the south.Although this was the start of what is referred to as the civil war, Sudan has been divided by war for centuries, the North African Arabs prayed on the African Christian south, in the 80’s the Sudan’s vast oil resources were discovered. The Sudanese civil wars are generally referred to in three different events; the First Sudanese Civil War (1955-1972), the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005), and the South Sudanese Civil War (2013-present).

It all started in July of 2013, when President Kiir, a member of the Dinka tribe, decided to fire his entire cabinet including his Deputy President Riek Machar, who is a part of the nation's second largest tribe the Nuer, in a power struggle within the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). The civil war broke out after President Kiir accused Machar of trying to start a coup. Machar denied any involvement in plotting to overthrow him. These accusations sparked mass killings along ethnic lines in the country, where loyal followers of President Salva Kiir, and armed supporters of former Vice President and opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar.

While still struggling to achieve peace with Sudan since its independence in 2011, South Sudan is now rife with inner-conflict. Rebel forces led by the former Vice-President Riek Machar want to overthrow the South Sudanese government, led by President Salva Kiir.

The origin of the war between these two regions goes back to the 1950s when the country, which was previously two separate nations, was made one after World War II by the west. Shortly after this union, Sudan was emancipated from England. 1983 marks the beginning of the violent relations between the North and South Sudan. The initiation of this conflict was brought forth by the Islamic Sudanese of the North, invading with military force the Southern Sudanese Christians . From 1983, it is estimated that at least two million people have been killed in the violent duration of this genocide, most of whom are of the Christian faith and lead non-violent civilian lives. Attention on human trafficking was brought into the international community’s scope with close proximity to the beginning of the violence as two professors from the University of Khartoum shed light on the subject. Ushari Ahmad Mahumud and Suleyman Ali Baldo learned about the genocide and enslavement being practiced on the Dinka people, a tribal group in the southern Sudan, and upon this discovery they dicided to investigate it further. What they found was that raiders from the north were killing the Southern Christian men and kidnapping the women and children to be sold into slavery. The most disturbing part of this discovery was the newfound knowledge that this had been going on for over two years. Professors Mahumud and Baldo

Despite the 21st century advancements, the world is still plagued with major problems today. Each country, region and continent is facing its own set of struggles and battles. Whether it is an economic, political or social issue, there is always an obstruction that a country is striving to overcome. One of the worldwide issues is ethnic cleansing and genocide. In particular, the South Sudanese civil war is caused by differing opinions of ethnic groups and is leading to the attempt of genocide. Despite the several laws under crimes against humanity opposing this practice, it still does not stop groups from continuing this vile activity. South Sudan is in turmoil due to fighting between those with ethnic differences, specifically the Dinka and the Nuer. These heinous crimes must be stopped before the newly developed country, South Sudan, does not have an opportunity to flourish.

Sudan use to be a territory under British and Egyptian rule in 1946. At this time the North was much larger and economically prosperous than the South. This lead to the North have more influence on what happens in the region.

Less than a year after Sudan divided into new Republic of South Sudan and the new Republic of North Sudan the both countries get involved in conflict. The years of efforts by the international community to put an end to this prolong conflict by assisting, negotiating and signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement CPA in 2005 and the other effort to guarantee the downy division of the South and North come in to view to become naught. According to CPA referendum in January 2011, in the South caused in overwhelming vote in support of the partition. During the 6 months, South and North were supposed to discuss pivotal issue to ensure that by the time the in July when the government of South came into existence, will mandate to peaceful and orderly separation. Nevertheless, scenario for peaceful separation was shattered even before the Republic of Southern Sudan came to existence in July. While, the North come out to agree the consequence of the referendum and quit itself to less moderate conditions as a country that gives up its one third of its territory and most importantly three-quarters of the oil resources, which was not the case in reality. The Republic of the South was internally divided, incompetence, insecure to involve in a thriving negotiation of issues. Hence, the division took place whilst a main problem were vestige unresolved, and conflict erupt meanwhile the South gain its independence.