Growing tensions between northern and southern Sudan

The Newsweek online piece (see here) by Jason McClure on the crumbling Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in Sudan properly calls attention to growing tensions between northern and southern Sudan while most outside observers are still focused on Darfur, which is experiencing comparatively less violence. McClure's provocative article puts most of the blame on the government in Khartoum, but does not give the southern government a pass. There will be plenty of room for shared blame if the CPA collapses. In all fairness, I think President Obama's Special Envoy for Sudan, Scott Gration, has turned his attention to the north-south issue and is pursuing the right tactic in trying to work with Khartoum in efforts to improve the situation in Darfur and to implement the CPA. If his initiative does not work, there is always the option to return to the hard line approach which, I would argue, has had very mixed results in the past. Image: Peter Martell/AFP-Getty Images

Quote in Newsweek on Egypt's Irrigation

I am quoted in the September 28, 2009, issue of Newsweek on page 12 in a brief article titled "Egypt Parches Africa," or "Egypt Controls Most of Nile's Water" in the online, September 22 issue. The quote is:

"Egyptian officials work 'behind closed doors' to block funding for upstream projects, according to David Shinn, a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia."

This reference was in the context of Egyptian concern over large, new, upstream irrigation projects and not hydropower dams. Large irrigation projects divert water permanently from reaching Egypt. Hydropower dams only hold back water on a one-time basis. Once the lake behind the dam is full, the water flows again.

Mention in Newsweek

I was mentioned in Jason McLure's web-exclusive "Tough Talk: Barack Obama hasn't stood up to Africa's despots" in Newsweek. Here's the relevant paragraph:

Despite the rhetoric and Obama's enormous popularity on the continent, the new administration hasn't yet shown it has the stomach to stand up to Africa's strongmen. As David Shinn, a longtime U.S. diplomat in Africa pointed out in an interview with McClatchy's, Clinton looks set to play the "good cop" and smooth any feathers Obama may have ruffled in Ghana.

The article is accessible here.