Northwestern University Newsfeed

May 22, 2006

United Nations officials say conditions in the Darfur region of the Sudan have deteriorated so much as of late that it may lead to a collapse of the international assistance effort there within weeks. William Reno is an associate professor of political science at Northwestern University and says the shear number of groups involved in the conflict is an obstacle to peace…

RENO: If you negotiate with the strongest faction in the government and the strongest faction amongst the rebels, you can get them to sign a piece of paper…especially if you bare down real hard on them. But, these groups have all sorts of neighbors and associates that they can’t really control. So, you can end up with a nice peace agreement…lots of signatures on a piece of paper, but still have a fight on your hands.

Reno says the Darfur conflict has broad implications for the entire African continent…and in particular Chad…

RENO: The government of Chad is driven by all kinds of factional divisions…and some of these factions might start looking to rebels in Sudan and they say, “Ahh this is our opportunity now. We’re going to put ourselves in power in Chad.” Or, “We’re going to press our demand against the government of Chad.” So, it begins to fragment Chad the same way it fragmented Sudan. 

Reno says there is currently a debate in the U.S. state department about how to handle the Darfur conflict in dealings with the Sudanese government…

RENO: Maybe what happens is that Darfur is really such a problem for them too, that the U.S. can simply buy them out of the problem and say, “Look…you guys screwed up in Darfur. You have a big diplomatic problem on your hands. But, this is also becoming a problem now in trying to protect the unity of your government. If you just comply. If you just sign on with us with this peace agreement then we are going to turn around and help your government deal with all sorts of other problems…debt issues…diplomatic reintegration back into the world community. 

Reno says it remains difficult for the Sudanese government to reel in the Janjaweed militia group despite the groups connections with the government…

RENO: I don’t think it’s necessarily the case somebody in Khartoum can say, “Ok we’ve signed a peace agreement…now you guys stop!” because the Janjaweed are associated with a faction that’s kind of fighting its own battle in the capital.