The Tumultuous Past of South Sudan

The country of South Sudan had been through many decades of consistent fighting and civil wars to become the independent country that is today South Sudan. The inequality and unfair government treatment led to their decision of officially breaking the largest country in Africa into two separate countries. Only six years after the peace treaty that finally ended the atrocious civil war did South Sudan gain independence, becoming Africa's newest country. South South Sudan faced many problematic issues wanting to break off and become independent and its own nation because the southerners felt discriminated against by the disagreement with the northern government standards.

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.

The Sudan is home to two civil wars taking place dating back hundreds of years. “The older of the two, pitting the Muslim revels from the south, has claimed 2m lives in the past two decades, and spurred 4m people to abandon their homes.”(Economist 11) Although the two sides in this old war are close to a peace resolution, a new insurgence has begun in the region pitting “Arabs” against the “black Africans”, in an effort to attract peace concessions from the Sudanese government just as the older rebels did years before. An uprising by rebel groups against government targets sparked this new war because they felt neglected by the Sudanese government. But the response of the government to the new revolt falls extremely short of peace concessions, and instead perpetuates an environment of violence, torture and depression. The government has given its own militia, the janjaweed, free reign to pillage, rape and kill black civilians in a futile attempt to squelch the revolt. This can be see as an “ethnic cleansing” in which the government feels that the killings of blacks will hopefully rid the country of the rebels given that the Darfur rebels are mostly black Africans. Thus, the Sudanese

Ever since the start of the civil war (December 2013) in South Sudan, tensions have been running high between two opposing groups. Those who support the President, Salva Kiir, and those who support his fired deputy, Rick Machar. This conflict has caused food shortages and disease for many people. The one thing the parties have in common is the brutal violence especially towards women. According to the article,

These people did not have proper roads they didn't have any buildings, they did not have clean water, so be appreciative of what you have. This book was written because it strides towards freedom of war and keeping peace. Sudan has had two wars now, the first civil war in the years 1955 to 1972, and the second Sudanese Civil War went on in the years 1983 to 2005.

Soon after this new government and administration was established, conflict, unfortunately, came back again. It is important to note the environment that precipitated the conflict. Once South Sudan achieved their independence, the international community stepped away without giving much guidance. The government

Darfur is one of the nine states of The Republic of Sudan in the southern region of Sudan. Khartoum became the capital of Sudan and “wealthy Northern Arabs from around the Nile River received control of the government. Darfur and Southern Sudan were excluded from any real power” (Levy 16). Khartoum used starvation as a weapon of war, they prevented workers from delivering food to those who needed it in the south even though Khartoum clearly knew this was a violation of international law. Due to the lack of food over 500,000 people starved to death in the years of 1992 and 1993 (20). The United States and other countries of the international community pressured Sudan to begin discussing peace talks in 2001 and in the next few years. However, even though the peace talks were signed both parties failed to hold up their end of the compromise. This continued to happen in the next few years, each time the peace talks failed (20 and 29-31). Along with the starvation, drought water shortages, crop destruction by locusts, famine, and disease were recurring problems in Darfur (18).

How would it make you feel if your parents left you on the side of the road at a young age? Essentially that’s what Britain did to Sudan. During the stage of imperialism, Britain indirectly governed Sudan from 1899 to 1956. After being governed by Britain for 57 years, Sudan found it difficult to build a stable and effective government. Sudan didn’t have a government for years, which lead to difficulty trying to survive. They have lacked and are still lacking human rights, economy, and the quality of living of their people. When the British left, Sudan was at a huge disadvantage.

  In Sub-Sahara Africa, during the last four decades thirty-five major armed conflicts have occurred, taking the lives of almost ten million people. There is a high correlation between the risk of conflict and a low ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI), due to the weak capacities and inability of these poor countries to guarantee the security of its citizens, rebellions and conflict have a high occurrence rate. United Nations has observed that conflicts

Another currnent event that has happended took place on Friday in Jakawa, in the Gambela region of Ethiopia. More than 140 civilians were killed by Gunmen near Ethiopia's western border . The attacker were members of South Sudan’s Murle tribe. The attackers killed many women and children. And many children were abducted and taken into South Sudan.

Sudan had had a horrific civil war since 1956, between two different regions that practice two different religions, Muslim North and Christian South (“Slave Redemption Increases Slavery in Sudan”). The Muslim North governs their country in Khartoum, and they praise or even support the idea of attacking the Christian South villages and capturing people, who were later sold into slavery (“Slave Redemption Increases Slavery in Sudan”). The civil war continued on for decades until October 2002, the United State Congress passed the Sudan Peace Act, to help diffuse the situation is Sudan and to promote humanitarian efforts (Nashashibi). Was the war,even worth it? Even though it was believed to save people in Africa, mainly in Sudan, and they can

Ethiopia is one of the oldest surviving countries in the world. While its current economic, societal, and political conditions are considered povertous from the viewpoint of a first world nation, the country has been a relative powerhouse in the Horn of Africa. It has a large military, gross domestic product growth, and a relatively stable international position compared to its neighbors. In the last 60 years, however, it has been continually embroiled in a border dispute with its neighbor Eritrea. Eritrea, a former province of Ethiopia, has fought against the larger nation’s control for decades, resulting in war in the 1990s and massive tension in the area since. This border conflict has the potential to flare once again and throw the

The current government of Sudan led by the Arab leader Omar el-Bashir can be blamed for the terror and conflict that enveloped Sudan in the last decades. Omar el-Bashir has always been criticized for only defending and acting on the interests of the Arab Muslims located in the Northern Sudan while ignoring the Christians and Animist population in the south. The conflict that unfolded in these regions along with violence, hostility and dislocation of many people can be connected with the reign of the Arab leader in Sudan. Indeed, this reigning group or culture in Sudan affected not only the Sudanese but also other states in the region and the international community in general, most especially the United States since their reign produced

The U.S. must intervene in South Sudan, as it is an enduring interest within our National Security Strategy to maintain “An international order advanced by U.S. leadership that promotes peace, security, and opportunity.” General Rodriguez, commander of AFRICOM, should employ both diplomatic and economic instruments of power. By doing so, the U.S. risks a potentially long-term engagement in East Africa.

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