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Sudan: A Nation in Turbulent Search of Itself

Center for Displacement Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS); Johns Hopkins University

Sudan has been intermittently at war with itself since independence on June 1, 1956, with only ten years of precarious peace between 1972 and 1983. At the heart of the conflict is a crisis of national identity. Those who have been in control of the country define themselves as Arabs and also Muslims, and identify more with the Middle East than with black Africa, though they are essentially Arab-Africans. Their physical features are similar to other African groups in the region, and their cultures and even Islamic practices are an amalgam of Arab and Islamic culture with indigenous belief systems and cultures. The outcome of Sudan' struggles is difficult to predict. Three questions are worth probing: What is the conflict about? To what extent does the comprehensive peace agreement address the root causes of the conflict? What are the prospects for a truly comprehensive and lasting peace in the Sudan?

Key Words: Sudan • Arabization • Islamization • slavery • genocide • civil war

The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 603, No. 1, 155-162 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0002716205283021


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