Sudan in Crisis

"We badly need more writings of this genre. The poor communication between diplomatic professionals and academic area scholars is deplorable. This work] has the potential to speak to both groups. . . . Scholars and practitioners should pay attention."--L. Carl Brown, Princeton University This is the story of how a promising North African democracy, by failing to solve crucial problems both at home and abroad, brought about its own overthrow by Islamic militants. Since gaining independence in 1956, Sudan has repeatedly stumbled in attempts to establish a stable democratic government. Sudan in Crisis tells the story of this failure and seeks to explain its causes.

G. Norman Anderson, former American ambassador, provides a first-hand account of Sudan's third try at democracy. He analyzes the problems plaguing the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi--civil war and related famine, religious and ethnic antagonisms, political instability, economic deterioration, the presence of Libyan terrorists--and the ineffective efforts of the government to cope with them. He also analyzes the policies of the United States and Sudan during this period, and cites specific instances in which each helped to undermine Sudanese democracy--including Washington's earlier strong support of Sudanese dictator Ja'far Numayri and its relatively lukewarm support of democracy and Sadiq al-Mahdi's foreign policy of nonalignment, which favored the extremist regimes of Libya and Iran while antagonizing potential friends such as the United States, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.

Sudan in Crisis also addresses the issue of Sudan's future after the current junta. With many of the leaders who mismanaged democratic government now waiting again in the wings, the question remains whether they have learned the lessons of the past. G. Norman Anderson is a former career diplomat specializing in Arab affairs and Eastern Europe. He was the American ambassador to Sudan from 1986 to 1989. During the recent Yugoslav crisis, he headed an international peace mission in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.