USIP report on North Sudan

The U.S. Institute for Peace released a study in June 2011 on the Republic of Sudan or North Sudan.

Source: USIP website.

Prepared by Jon Temin and Theodore Murphy, it notes that both Sudanese and the international community have approached Sudan’s challenges in a fragmented and regionally focused way.

These efforts overlook fundamental governance challenges at the root of Sudan’s decades of instability and the center of the country’s economic and political dominance of the periphery. Sudanese negotiations tend to occur among elites and cannot claim to represent the population generally. There should be a more inclusive dialogue.

The authors make the critical point that any reform of northern governance should be led by Sudanese. Perceptions that external actors are forcing change can be counterproductive. The international community can support a reform process but should tread carefully. Incremental efforts should focus on promoting an enabling environment in which nascent Sudanese-led efforts can take root and grow.

It will be difficult, however, for the international community to support an national process because it already supports several regional processes.