The Sudan is an artificial colonial creation that has been plagued for decades by civil wars between the Arabist government in Khartoum and black African Christian and animist secessionist movements in the south. In 2004, thousands of villagers in Darfur fled deliberate famine, mass rape and the brutal tactics of the government sponsored "jamjaweed" militias.
The ghosts of Rwanda reappeared in the world's consciousness as reports of a potential genocide appeared in the international press. 'Darfur' is the first book to explore the sources of the conflict in Darfur and explain just what is at stake: the tenuous nature of the state and all its complex ethnic and religious layerings; the struggle to control the enormously rich oil resources; and the economic and strategic interests that give this conflict international significance.
