Social Science Research Council

The decision of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber to dismiss all charges against Bahr Abu Garda, formerly of the Justice and Equality Movement, in connection with the attack that killed 12 African Union peacekeepers in Haskanita in 2007 is not just another setback for Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo. It is an astonishing tale of incoherence, [...]

A special issue of the journal, Genocide Studies and Prevention, focuses on the case of Darfur. It includes an article by Alan Kuperman, examining the political calculations of the Darfur rebels, focusing in particular on whether the promise of an international intervention changed their calculations in favor of sustaining the war and blocking peace efforts. [...]

A new report by Johan Brosché of Uppsala University, in tandem with the UN’s Mediation Support Unit, evaluates the CPA, focusing on power-sharing aspects of the accord. Also, the paper seeks to answer what lessons can be learned from the CPA, with regards to sharing power to enable peace. In the paper a broad approach [...]

Clearly the ICC arrest warrant bears heavily on the situation in the Sudan and the forthcoming elections. It is not only President Bashir who is concerned, many others are.
My question, is what can be done about the ICC arrest warrant?
Will the International Community, notably the Security Council, try to help the situation in the Sudan, [...]

Darfur and the Crisis of Governance in Sudan: A Critical Reader, edited by Salah Hassan and Carina Ray, is a compendium of articles by leading social scientists on the Darfur crisis, including extensive appendices of original documents such as the Qoreish letters, the SLM and JEM manifestos and a translation of the first part of [...]

The difficulties facing the Doha peace talks—highlighted in my report for the Small Arms Survey: Rhetoric and Reality. The Failure to Resolve the Darfur Conflict—have been starkly illustrated as meetings resume in Doha between mediators and representatives of some of the Darfur armed movements. (Planned talks between the movements and civil society have been postponed, [...]

In less than 12 months’ time, Southern Sudan’s voters will pass judgement on Sudan’s Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which set out to make attractive the unity of a divided country over a six year interim period. In a burst of activity at the outset of the interim period, the two parties who make up Sudan’s [...]

Sudan’s election is for real. The SPLM candidate, Yasir Arman, has set his sights on the Republican Palace. Sadiq al Mahdi has now also put forward his candidature. There is a growing chance that the presidential election will go to a second, run-off round, with an opposition candidate contesting against President Omar al Bashir.
The CPA [...]

Dr. Edward Thomas’s report for The Royal Institute for International Affairs (Chatham House), Decisions and Deadlines: A Critical Year for Sudan contains some very insightful remarks about the dangers and risks inherent in the months leading to the 2011 referendum and beyond. He wisely calls for the post-referendum’s arrangements to be addressed now, catering [...]

A survey of surveys of Darfur mortality since 2003 in the latest issue of The Lancet, by the reputable analysts Olivier Degomme and Debarati Guha-Sapir, provides the most reliable estimates yet for not only the extent, but the pattern of mortality in Darfur since September 2003.
The authors find that the pattern of deaths “matched well [...]