Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on TerrorFrom the author of Good Muslim, Bad Muslim comes an important book, unlike any other, that looks at the crisis in Darfur within the context of the history of Sudan and examines the world’s response to that crisis. In Saviors and Survivors, Mahmood Mamdani explains how the conflict in Darfur began as a civil war (1987—89) between nomadic and peasant tribes over fertile land in the south, triggered by a severe drought that had expanded the Sahara Desert by more than sixty miles in forty years; how British colonial officials had artificially tribalized Darfur, dividing its population into “native” and “settler” tribes and creating homelands for the former at the expense of the latter; how the war intensified in the 1990s when the Sudanese government tried unsuccessfully to address the problem by creating homelands for tribes without any. The involvement of opposition parties gave rise in 2003 to two rebel movements, leading to a brutal insurgency and a horrific counterinsurgency–but not to genocide, as the West has declared. Mamdani also explains how the Cold War exacerbated the twenty-year civil war in neighboring Chad, creating a confrontation between Libya’s Muammar al-Qaddafi (with Soviet support) and the Reagan administration (allied with France and Israel) that spilled over into Darfur and militarized the fighting. By 2003, the war involved national, regional, and global forces, including the powerful Western lobby, who now saw it as part of the War on Terror and called for a military invasion dressed up as “humanitarian intervention.” Incisive and authoritative, Saviors and Survivors will radically alter our understanding of the crisis in Darfur. |
Contents
3 | |
19 | |
The Politics of the Movement to Save Darfur | 48 |
Writing Race into History | 75 |
Sudan and the Sultanate of Dar Fur | 109 |
Making Settlers | 145 |
Building Nation and State in Independent Sudan | 171 |
Other editions - View all
Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror Mahmood Mamdani No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
Abbala African Union Alex de Waal Arab tribes armed army Baggara began Belt British Burr and Collins camel nomads century Chad Chadian chap civil civilian claimed colonial conflict in Darfur counterinsurgency crisis cultural Darfur Conflict Darfur Early Recovery Darfur Joint Assessment deaths Egypt ethnic Fasher forces Funj genocide groups hakura Harir Hasan homeland human rights humanitarian Ibid Ibrahim identity indirect rule insurgency Iraq Islamic Islamist Janjawiid John Garang Kebkabiya Kordofan land leaders Libyan MacMichael Mahdiyya Massalit migration military militias Mohamed mortality movement Muslim native administration NATSIOS Nile Nimeiry non-Arab North Darfur northern Sudan Nubian O'Fahey organization parties Peace percent political population rebels reform regime region riverine Rizeigat Rwanda Save Darfur Coalition Security Council Sharif Harir Sinnar slaves Society southern Spaulding Sudanese Sufi Sultanate tion traditional tribal Uganda United Nations University of Khartoum violence in Darfur West Western Yusuf Fadl Zaghawa