War in Sudan - Term Paper Example

Sudanese War While not generally on the forefront of the American consciousness, the war in Sudan represents a significant conflict that warrants attention on an international level. The conflict itself is predominantly centered in the Darfur region and began in 2003 when the guerilla movements took action against the Sudanese government. While a variety of rebel groups became involved in the military action, the primary actors in the movement against the Sudanese government were the Justice and Equality Movement and the Sundan Liberation Army.

These group’s first military actions began in 2003 and have continued unto the present day in a wide variety of forms of actions. Since the conflict began a significant amount of bloodshed and causalities have occurred that have made this conflict one of significant international concern. There exists a wide-variety of reasons for the conflict, including significant accusations of oppression against the Sudan government. This essay functions to examine the reasons for this war, and proposes potential solutions to ending it.

One of the primary reasons for the conflict is related to ethnic cleansing and overt oppression. While it is clear that such extreme forms of oppression are clearly occurring in this region, one of the main questions in these regards is the underlining reason behind these oppressive acts. While this is clearly a complex question, it should come as no surprise that one of the primary reasons has been linked to economic reasons and scarcity of resources. This is strikingly evident, as the participants in the conflict are not fighting strictly based on skin color or religion, as many individuals on both sides are black Muslims.

Instead the main lines of conflict have been drawn around means of subsistence, with nomadic herders being in direct conflict with the individuals that practice sedentary agriculture (Strauss 2005). Adding to tensions, in these regards, is the nature of the agricultural farming land in the region. As a result of arid lands increased ethnic immigration into the region occurred, with groups from Chad, Libya, and other surrounding areas entering Sudan as a means of finding subsistence. This immigration created a critical shortage of resources that resulted in increased pressure on the government and long-term citizens to find an answer for survival.

Beginning in 1991, claims began to mount that the Sudan government had increasingly engaged in apartheid actions against non-Arab groups in the region. These actions continued until they came to large head in 2003, when the oppressive actions were brought to international attention. Groups came to contend that the government couldn’t protect them against the growing violence and internal conflict that had emerged in the region and a result fractional guerilla movements emerged that gave rise to furthered conflicting actions and ultimately war (‘Root Causes of the Darfur Conflict’).

In considering potential means by which the conflict could be put to an end it’s difficult to offer anything but surface responses. Still there are a few broad steps that obviously must be taken if the region is to move past this war. While it’s easy to point to an underdeveloped political structure or similar western centric solutions, in reality Darfur is just as developed as other regions of Africa that are not experiencing such inner strife. Rather it seems the core problem and subsequent solutions are linked to the tenuous agricultural system in the region (Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim 2004).

In these regards, this essay argues that the main solutions to the Darfur region are in developing adequate means of subsistence and agricultural production. While this is far easier to write than it is to actually envision, it’s clear that simply donating food or economic resources to the region is not enough to ensure that it bring itself out of this strife. Instead, these resources need to be implemented in a way that develops a long-term strategic vision for developing agricultural and subsistence mechanisms within the geographical region.

This plan must consider the shifting nature of immigration, and the socio-political tensions that have already arisen in response to the scarcity of resources. In conclusion, it’s clear there are a variety of complex reasons for the conflict in Sudan. If there is one overarching reason, one can point to the oppression and apartheid that is occurring because of scarcity of resources in the region. This essay has proposed that a long-term solution must be implemented that works to develop means of agricultural subsistence in the region.

Ultimately, it’s only through the area being able to produce its own resources and trade that will curb the violence and civil strife. References Abdullahi Ahmed An-Naim (2004). Causes and Solutions Darfur. San Diego Union- Tribune. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040815/news_lz1e15darfur.html ‘Root Causes of the Darfur Conflict.’ (2006) Sudan Watch. http://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2006/07/root-causes-of-darfur-conflict.html Straus, Scott. (2005). Darfur and the Genocide Debate, Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 1 pp. 123-133