[wvns] Explaining Darfur

Explaining Darfur
Katie Baker
NEWSWEEK
http://www.newsweek.com/id/194622

Say "darfur" and hor rific images leap to mind: Janjaweed, genocide. But most of us would be hard- pressed to explain the violence there, beyond the popular no tion that it's ethnic cleansing of Africans by Arabs. Columbia University scholar Mahmood Mamdani's brilliant new book, "Saviors and Survivors," explains why this assumption is incor rect, and why it's undermining peace efforts in the region.

The Idea:The Darfur conflict, Mamdani says, is fundamental ly between tribes (both Arab and non-Arab) who have rights to a homeland—and through that, political representation— and tribes who don't. This is key to understanding the situation and how to remedy it.

The Evidence:When the British colonized Darfur—at the time a polyglot sultanate—they pursued a retribalization policy that classified certain peoples as "native" and others as "immigrant," giving land and political rights to the former while disenfran chising the lat ter. This system produced long- simmering tensions between nomadic and sedentary Darfuris. Add to that decades of se vere drought that drove nomads south onto their neighbors' land, as well as meddling by Libya, America and Chad— which militarized Darfur tribes as Cold War proxies—and by the mid-'80s, the region had exploded in civil war, which spiraled into an international conflict with escalating atrocities.

The Conclusion: The old colonial land-rights system must be overhauled before Darfur's tribes can find a common path forward and integrate into a peaceful, multiethnic whole.

*********************************************************************

WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE

To subscribe to this group, send an email to:
wvns-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

NEWS ARCHIVE IS OPEN TO PUBLIC VIEW
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/

Need some good karma? Appreciate the service?
Please consider donating to WVNS today.
Email ummyakoub@yahoo.com for instructions.

To leave this list, send an email to:
wvns-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

------------------------------------

Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/

<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/join
(Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:wvns-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:wvns-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
wvns-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/