Daily Darfur: Sudan On The Hill

by Michelle . · 2009-07-29 05:31:00 UTC
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Congress is having a bit of bicameral fun with Sudan this week: Today and tomorrow, both the House and Senate will hold hearings on US policy towards the serially conflict-ridden nation. The hearings shortly follow the fifth anniversary of resolutions declaring that genocide was taking place in Darfur.

Despite a rather momentous year for Sudan so far, the Obama administration has yet to release its policy review --- it's important to take the time necessary to analyze such a complicated tangle of foreign-policy-hot-potato, for sure, but time is rather pressing as Sudan moves towards several crucial benchmarks that could make-or-break a fragile (and relative) peace. The resumption of full-scale civil war would be, for lack of a better term, a nightmare.

Save Darfur Coalition president Jerry Fowler describes what Obama's comprehensive strategy on Sudan should look like in a piece on the Huffington Post.

Many, myself included, are rather leery of US Special Envoy Scott Gration's approach to Sudan thus far, which has the public appearance of going to far to accommodate Khartoum without setting expectations for improvements from the authoritarian regime before reaping benefits of an improved relationship with the US. (And it's not only activists, but some within the administration as well.) As advocacy organizations frequently note, some package of combined incentive and disincentive is necessary, but history has already shown that we cannot expect meaningful change out of Khartoum with an overly-carrot-heavy approach.

For those of you living in states with a senator on the Foreign Relations Committee, advocacy groups want you to call and ask your senator to address a list of key questions and concerns when Gration testifies on Thursday.

[Photo: From  2008 -- many of the campaign's foreign policy advisers now hold key positions in the administration, and are involved in the Sudan policy review. Foreign-policy advisers of Senator Obama (at head of table) include, from left around table, Gregory Craig, Susan Rice, Anthony Lake, Maj. Gen. Scott Gration and Samantha Power.]

Michelle . has been involved in various activist endeavors, including the Teach Against Genocide pilot campaigns.
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