The status of the province of Abyei is an unresolved issue from the June 2011 détente between Sudan and South Sudan. In the year since South Sudan’s independence, the two countries have managed to avoid a full-scale war. But minor skirmishes on the border and illegitimate air raids on the Heglig oil field in April 2012, however, have disrupted that faulty peace.
The Sudanese government turn protests into a sting operation by publicizing fake ones online and arresting those who show up.
South Sudanese politicians are using security as an excuse to dodge transparency on oil revenues.
From Twitter trending to the front page of The New York Times to public statements by the White House and the Pentagon, the Kony 2012 campaign has shown the power of social media to affect U.S. public debate. But it has also demonstrated the dangers posed by oversimplification in an age when policy is made in the 24-hour news cycle. This has proven especially so on issues concerning Africa where, lacking historical context, over-simplistic media framing can quickly take root and lead to problematic policy “solutions.”
Hope engendered by the referendum to create South Sudan last year has been undermined by inter-ethnic strife and mass killings by the forces of Sudan President Omar al-Bashir.
In order to mine its resources a Texas-based firm sought to sign a 49-year lease for land in South Sudan for a paltry $25,000.
If the Doha Peace Agreement fails, regional conflict and suffering would be sure to deepen, as would the Bashir regime’s isolation.
During the Cold War, Americans wondered if newborn African and Eastern European countries would become democracies. Now we assess how new democracies will live up to their professed democratic values. The world’s newest country, South Sudan, is in the unique position of being able to learn from and construct its constitution from countries that have already gone through the risky process of declaring freedom.
The South Sudan government has been pressured to make its oil industry transparent. But will that ensure its oil assets will be used for the good of Sudan?
On May 22, 5,000 Northern Sudanese troops invaded Abyei, violating several peace agreements with South Sudan. It only took two days for the Northern Sudanese army to overrun the South Sudanese troops with a combined aerial and infantry campaign. According to UN estimates, the invasion forced 25,000 – 30,000 individuals to flee the area. This invasion could represent an effort by Khartoum to gain a firm foothold in Abyei before the formal declaration of independence by South Sudan on July 9.