Field Dispatch: The Challenge of Tackling Terrorism in South Sudan
Within its first month of independence, South Sudan was named among the top five countries in the world where terrorist attacks are most likely to occur. Further attempts toward destabilization by militias are therefore imminent and are, in fact, likely still happening in the field ...
A New U.S. Policy for Two New Sudans
After a decades-long deadly struggle for freedom, South Sudanese celebrated for days over the realization of their dream of independent statehood. A new U.S. policy—rooted in the international responsibility to protect civilian life and democracy promotion—is desperately needed for these two new Sudans ...
Field Dispatch: Insecurity across the Kivus
Violence is on the rise in eastern Congo, with attacks by the Rwandan FDLR rebel group increasing in recent months. Civil society representatives here in eastern Congo’s North and South Kivu provinces have continuously watched as the long-feared FDLR militia keeps a stranglehold on their villages, committing atrocities to hold their unwilling host communities subdued ...
Rethinking Sudan after Southern Secession
The international community’s robust push for southern independence, while successful, has been the continuation of a long-standing piecemeal approach to Sudan that addresses the symptoms, rather than the root causes of the country’s conflicts. Less has been said of the fragility and potential for mass conflict that exists in what will be left of Sudan itself, and the policy changes needed to address this reality ...
North Kivu Civil Society Engages on Conflict Minerals
Born out of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in eastern Congo, a group of prominent civil society organizations recently formed a coalition to address the linkage between natural resource exploitation and human rights abuses in the region ...
Peace in Both Sudans
When Sudan becomes two countries on July 9, 2011, the two new states will face multiple urgent crises. Without a change in international policy approach, Sudan’s internal strife will become an international conflict that could threaten the wider stability of the region and will certainly cause new levels of human suffering ...
President Obama’s LRA Strategy Report Card: Issue #2
In Issue #2 of our LRA Report Card we report that incremental progress in the strategy’s first six months of implementation is not living up to the reality of rising LRA violence on the ground—and give President Obama some “homework” to improve his grades ...
Certification: The Path to Conflict-Free Minerals from Congo
In order to inform certification efforts on conflict minerals from eastern Congo, this report gleans lessons from other certification processes, including those for fair labor, blood diamonds, forestry, and oil revenue transparency ...
Field Dispatch: Lessons from Upper Nile
The town of Malakal, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, is under siege. An increased Sudan People’s Liberation Army security presence is illustrative of the weaknesses of the government approach to dealing with militias, as well as the concerns of its citizenry ...
Abyei: Sudan’s West Bank
The Abyei area has often been called Sudan’s Kashmir, a territory claimed by two nations. It could more aptly be described as Sudan’s West Bank, where a local population is being progressively dislodged and displaced by government-backed settlements. This report presents an assessment of the current situation of ongoing violence in Abyei, and recommendations for a sustainable solution ...
