Sudan: The Failure and Division of an African State / Edition 2

by Richard Cockett

Overview

Over the past two decades, the situation in Africa’s largest country, Sudan, has progressively deteriorated: the country is in second position on the Failed States Index, a war in Darfur has claimed hundreds of thousands of deaths, President Bashir has been indicted by the International Criminal Court, a forthcoming referendum on independence for Southern Sudan threatens to split the country violently apart.

In this fascinating and immensely readable book, the Africa editor of the Economist gives an absorbing account of Sudan’s descent into failure and what some have called genocide. Drawing on interviews with many of the main players, Richard Cockett explains how and why Sudan has disintegrated, looking in particular at the country’s complex relationship with the wider world. He shows how the United States and Britain were initially complicit in Darfur—but also how a broad coalition of human-rights activists, right-wing Christians, and opponents of slavery succeeded in bringing the issues to prominence in the United States and creating an impetus for change at the highest level.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300215311
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	10/25/2016
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard Cockett is former Africa editor of The Economist. He was previously a senior lecturer in politics and history at the University of London.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements vii

List of Illustrations xi

Introduction to the second edition 1

Chapter 1 The One-City State 6

Chapter 2 Populists and Civil War, 1956-89 56

Chapter 3 The National Islamic Front and Turabi in Power, 1989-2000 96

Chapter 4 Sudan and the West: slavery, conscience and al-Qaeda 143

Chapter 5 Darfur: how the lolling was allowed to happen 168

Chapter 6 Darfur: the vortex 211

Chapter 7 Surviving in the North, Failing in the South, 2005-10 250

Chapter 8 New Nations, Old Ways 289

Notes 316

Select Bibliography 320

Index 323

Editorial Reviews

"For those readers who know nothing more about the country than what is reported in the Western media, his book will be a revelation."—The Gunboat

The Gunboat

…well-researched, beautifully written and thoroughly absorbing, despite the wrenching tragedies [this book] must chronicle.”—George Ayittey, The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal - George Ayittey

‘In this informative, eminently readable history and analysis of Sudan’s failure as a state, Cockett draws on interviews with many of the main players. There is plenty of blame to go around, he says, citing 'meddling western politicians, over-simplifying activists, spineless African leaders, shamelessly silent Muslim countries … and myopic Sudanese politicians'.’—The Guardian

The Guardian

“…well-researched, beautifully written and thoroughly absorbing, despite the wrenching tragedies [this book] must chronicle.”
-George Ayittey, The Wall Street Journal

— George Ayittey

The Wall Street Journal