Daily Darfur: Wanted: International Political Will

The Enough Team responded to my questions about their recent "Blueprint for Peace." A key take-away from their answers is: Pushing on political levers and maneuvering for peace in a complex and volatile context takes time, and there's always more going on than meets the eye.

Enough's post also further emphasizes the critical need to forge some level of international consensus in order to effectively pursue the requisite package of "sticks & carrots" policy options with any effect. The government in Khartoum has succeeded in playing stakeholders off against one another, and surviving pressure by some by soliciting support from others --- or even, as the case may be with American anti-terrorism interests, by manipulating bilateral relations to its advantage. Not every point of leverage can or needs to be pushed with multilateral effort, but the lack of a concerted, coordinated response when needed has become a lifeline for the outrageously dictatorial regime in Khartoum.

And, as always, the result of all of this politicking: People die.

(Many thanks to everyone at Enough for humoring me. My favorite part of blogging is engaging with others in the sphere.)

Bummer

South Africa's new foreign minister effectively squashed any hope of a change in tone towards Darfur and the ICC in an interview with SABC this week, reiterating the previous administration's opposition to the court. The inauguration of Jacob Zuma seemed to bring the possibility of a shift away from public opposition, after Bashir was warned not to attend his inauguration because South Africa would be obligated to arrest him.

Who knows what's actually going on behind the scenes --- and the inauguration incident shows, at least, that South Africa is not intent on complete defiance of the ICC --- but the dominant public line seems to be firmly in place, for the time being.

Quickies

Amanda Tyson writes about the new "From Memory to Action" exhibit at USHMM on the Save Darfur blog.

Senator Barbara Boxer quoted a Refugees International report on the use of rape as a weapon of war during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the topic earlier this week. A number of NGO representatives gave testimony, including Save Darfur's Neimat Ahmadi and ENOUGH's John Prendergast.

The Boston Globe on the Obama Administration's decision to join the UN Human Rights Council: "Now that America has stopped torturing terrorist suspects, it ought to be able to act as a defender of human rights without hypocrisy."

[Photo from AFP: A group of Sudanese women join activists calling for President Obama's attention in saving victims of genocide in Darfur during rally in Lafayette Park across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, April 19, 2009.]