Saving Sudan
President Obama’s predilection for finding diplomatic compromises for knotty world conflicts won him the Nobel Peace Prize, but it doesn’t always play well at home, where engagement can be ridiculed as naïve or wishy-washy. Sometimes, though, it’s the only way to thread the needle. And the president seems to have done just that with his long-awaited new policy on Sudan.
Satisfying though it is to continue to try to isolate Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir — and as an indicted war criminal, he deserves nothing more — Obama is correct in saying that this policy did not work under the Bush administration. The new carrot-and-stick approach places greater emphasis on incentives, but also warns of additional punishments if the government in Khartoum does not end the abuses that have left millions of people dead or displaced in Darfur and, most crucially, does not implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that is supposed to end the bloody struggle between Sudan’s northern and southern regions.
Preventing the horrifying possibility of a return to civil war — the last one killed over 2 million people, 10 times more than Darfur’s fatalities — must be the highest priority for all who wish an end to one of Africa’s ongoing nightmares. The White House remains vague on the details of its new approach, and that makes activists understandably wary.
The road to peace in Sudan is paved with diplomatic, military and ethical minefields, but at least now there’s a sensible path to take and an administration willing to lead.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
