18 February 2008
Journalism 203
Professor B. Teufel
The conflict of February 2003 thrust Darfur into international consciousness, and, for some, conscience; but Sudan's intricate and volatile war, like a knot with many threads, traces back much further (Salih). The war is actually a cumulation of events dating from Sudan's independence from Turco-Egyptian rule in 1956, set against centuries of racial tension (Salih). Further, the war is more nuanced than merely an ethnic clash between African rebel movements and the largely Arabic Sudanese government (Tar). Widening racial polarity and constant war over poorly-distributed, poorly-developed resources are recurring themes in Darfur's turbulent history (Salih). Yet prior to 2003, these conflicts went largely unnoticed (Tar). Deemed a genocide by Congress, and, "the world's worst humanitarian crisis," by the United Nations (Willemse), these terms really only scratch the surface of the conflict in Darfur (Tar; Salih). While the race-factor is a catalyst that turned a recurring conflict over resources into an internationally-famous "genocide", the war itself is rooted in a tangle of religious diversity, shortage of goods, poorly-distributed resources, ill-handled government, ethnic conflict, and Sudanese politic (Tar; Salih).
The diversity of Sudan makes it an unusually unstable region of Africa. It is not only Africa's "largest nation-state," but it is also one of its most diverse (Tar). The population of 28 million is comprised of over 20 linguistic groups, as well as a variety of religions including Islam and Christianity (Tar). Since Sudan's independence from Turco-Egyptian rule, one of the key themes of its troubled history has been domestic conflict (Salih). This domestic conflict escalated to the internationally-renowned clash beginning in 2003 (Tar). The immediate reasons for this clash were the competition of Darfur's two main ethnic groups—Arabic and African—in a struggle over natural resources (Tar). The Sudanese government furthered this conflict by arming the largely Arabic militia, turning a competition over resources in to a venue for long-standing racial hatred (Tar). Two rebel movements, The Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement (SLA/M) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) joined forces to demand the development of the neglected regions of Darfur, as well as equal representation in government (Tar). The rebellion escalated as the Sudanese government met their request not with diplomacy, but with war (Tar). This war began to resemble genocide, for the Sudanese government armed and then lost control of a militia force whose brutal reputation soon earned them the title of the Janjaweed, or "Devil Horseman" (Willemse). This militia is largely comprised of nomadic Arabs, while the rebellion forces are mostly made up of stationary African farmers (Salih). This racial polarization of forces turned a conflict over resources into a war waged largely over race, a venue for centuries of hatred, and which has since earned the term of genocide (Tar).
While tribal conflict in Sudan began to brew centuries ago, the current racial polarization is most relevantly traced back to 1956, when Sudan gained independence from Turco-Egyptian rule (Salih). A side-effect of Sudan's independence was the intensification of Darfur's politically-based ethnic divisions, as well as a shortage of provisions due to concurrent urbanization and population growth (Salih). Sudan's liberation from Turco-Egyptian rule thus brought not stability, but increased conflict to the already volatile region (Salih). The military coups of 1958, 1969, and 1989 further destabilized the region, while racial divides were increasingly drawn along political lines (Salih). The coup of 1989 was largely propagated by the National Islamic Front, or NIF, and led to the current Sudanese government (Willemse; Salih). Darfur's incessant civil war during this period led to the Sudanese government's creation of the Popular Defense Force, or PDF (Salih). The PDF is an extreme Islamic group, which by 1996 outnumbered the regular army (Salih). It was through this increasingly popular use of tribal militias that the current Janjaweed came into being (Willemse; Salih). Janjaweed is a term used to describe the NIF's militias which, as aforesaid, are largely comprised of nomadic Arabic groups (Salih). The creation of the militias led to the increased polarization of ethnic groups, an already hair-trigger relationship due to steadily increasing conflict over Darfur's resources (Salih).
Shortage of resources became yet another source of racial polarization between the nomadic Arab groups and the mostly African farmers (Tar). However, the line from resource shortage to ethnic cleansing bears some explanation. Several prolonged droughts led to an increasingly fierce competition for the region's natural resources (Tar). Darfur's African tribal groups, such as the Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa, are comprised mostly of stationary farmers (Tar). The majority of the Arabic peoples of northern Darfur are shepherds, rearing camels and cattle (Tar). During times of drought and subsequent famine, the Arabic pastoralists ranged further afield, seeking food and water for their livestock (Salih). Although there were many droughts throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a particularly severe drought-induced famine ravaged Darfur between 1984 and 1985, and led to large-scale losses of Arabic livestock (Tar). The Arab pastoralists turned increasingly to grazing their dwindling flocks upon the farmlands of the African settlers (Tar). The African farmers fought back, for grazing animals wreak havoc upon farmland (Tar). As the famine worsened, nomadic Arabic pastoralists' turned increasingly to raiding African farmers as well (Tar). This violent competition between the Arab shepherd groups and African farming communities set up an extremely volatile situation. It only needed the introduction of firearms to edge it on the bloody road to genocide (Tar).
While this competition and the resulting conflict were not unusual for Darfur, the late 1980s conflict would prove unique due to the almost simultaneous introduction of firearms to both the Arabic and the African factions (Tar). By January 1988, "there were at least 50,000 automatic weapons in Darfur—one for every sixteen adult men." (Tar). The introduction of firearms proved to be a match upon dry tender; the "deadly combination," of firearms and a state rife with instability and racial hatred proved to be the first active steps toward the current-day genocide (Tar).
Successive Sudanese political parties furthered Darfur's already volatile state by promising firearms to "loyal," groups (Tar). However, the Sudanese government is largely comprised of the Arabic elite, while the African farmers increasingly and correspondingly aligned themselves with the rebellion (Willemse). The African tribes of the Fur, the Masalit, and the Zaghawa were among the first to align themselves with the rebellion, but as it was increasingly drawn-out in racial lines, smaller African tribes followed suit (Willemse). Perhaps the match to the tender was the discovery of petroleum in 1999 (Tar). While the increase in fortune could have been used to improve the country of Darfur, the Sudanese government instead poured the extra funds in to the military (Tar). This "military," however was comprised in large-part by a the vindictive Arabic Janjaweed (Tar). The conflict over scarce resources catapulted into a racial vendetta and climaxed with the revolt of the African Justice and Equality Movement and the Sudanese Liberation Army/Movement in 2002-2003 (Tar). The Sudanese government refused, and the genocide began (Tar).
Salih, M.A. Mohamed. (2005). Understanding the Conflict in Darfur. Occasional Papers from the Centre of African Studies, University of Copenhagen. Retrieved February 16, 2008, from http://www.teol.ku.dk/cas/nyhomepage/mapper/Occasional%20Papers/
Muhamed_Salih%20samlet%20paper.pdf
Tar, Usman. (2006). Old Conflict, New Complex Emergency: An Analysis of Darfur Crisis, Western Sudan [Electronic version]. Nordic Journal of African Studies 15(3), 406-427. Retrieved February 16, 2008, from http://www.njas.helsinki.fi/
Willemse, Karen. (2005). Darfur in War: The Politicization of Ethnic Identities [Electronic version]. ISIM Review, 15. Retrieved February 16, 2008, from http://www.isim.nl/
Willemse, Karen. (2005). Darfur in War: The Politicization of Ethnic Identities [Electronic version]. ISIM Review, 15. Retrieved February 16, 2008, from http://www.isim.nl/
files/Review_15/Review_15-14.pdf>
