Watch out. In the end, we will recognize the main objective of the fighting: who will control the enormous royalties flowing from the export of South Sudan's oil exports? I have read some commentators claiming that the fight has to do with the demotion and/or ouster of Nuer guards from the presidential guard detail. Perhaps, but history teaches us a lot about these types of ethnic-induced carnage--the naked fight for control of a country's resources requires that the fighters have some type of organizational structure from which to launch their struggle. Organizing for action, especially in a country like South Sudan, is quite costly and time-consuming. The ethnic group represents a ready-made organizational structure from which to launch one's fight for control of the apparatus of government and, of course, who ever captures the government, will automatically have access to the billions of dollars flowing into the national treasury from oil sales. Those who think that this is a struggle for ethnic survival or that this is part of so-called historical animosities between the Dinka and the Nuer, should remember that South Sudan is not the first country in which "ethnic entrepreneurs" have used their membership in various groups to secure public positions from which they can engage successfully in primitive accumulation. Are we surprised that some of the actors in this conflict have abandoned Juba and are racing toward the country's oil fields?
On Mon, Dec 23, 2013 at 10:48 AM, kenneth harrow <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
i've been refraining from joining in since our house is without electricity, ice storm, 100,000 people maybe without electricity for a week. so, now, in the warmth of my office, one thought. we've been around this discussion before, and moses had some pretty good arguments in favor of maintaining at least a recognition that african actors bear responsibility for their acts. but as gloria says, actions may have multiple sources. and i want to add one thing: which weighs more or less in each case? when the rwandan genocide occurred, the failure to bolster un peacekeepers meant that a deterrent force that could have stopped it was kept away.
but if we were to ask where the responsibility within rwanda lay, it gets very complicated, and only newspaper journalists feel obliged to reduce it to a headline and a column of print.
i think the best historians devote their lives to these questions, who bears the responsibility, and how much freedom to act did they have. we already debated that question about mandela faced with a new global order when he emerged from prison.
so the best answer i've received is, all african states face global economic and political forces: each meets those forces its own way, and some fare better than others, some make better decisions than others.
ken
On 12/23/13 9:49 AM, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:Indeed. How can you solve a problem if you don't understand the historical, international,
sociological and even psychological dimensions of the phenomenon in question?
Life is complex and so, too, are crisis situations. In this case it is important to know
whether Machar made a deal with Khartoum, and the allies of Khartoum,
for conflict resolution purposes. We need to know also whether resources are
skewed in the direction of one region at the expense of the other etc. etc.
' The devil made me do it' is no less simplistic than 'Africans are
inherently evil' ---- in the world of caricature.
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
africahistory.net
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
http://vimeo.com/66699182
Docu on Sudan
________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kwame zulu shabazz [kwameshabazz@gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, December 23, 2013 8:29 AM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
Bro Pablo,
Context and periodization are essential tools of peacemakers and political solutions...certainly not synonymous with your "devil made me do it" caricature.
kzs
On Dec 23, 2013 7:43 AM, "Pablo Idahosa" <pidahosa@yorku.ca<mailto:pidahosa@yorku.ca>> wrote:
Right on, John.
They-made-me-do-it gets very tiresome. It reminds me of one our prestigious African academics responding to patrimonial this and extraversion that, and he responded, "naw oh, they just go steal!"
While, Kwame, there's always a time and place for context and periodization, here, at least, it is people, folks as you say in the US, making decisions that have effects upon those whom they know, or don't care, go suffer, irrespective of local geo-politics and regardless of the historic conditions that gave rise to the general conditions. Basta!
Pablo
Sent from my grandfather's typewriter (MM)
On Dec 22, 2013, at 4:04 PM, John Mbaku <jmbaku@weber.edu<mailto:jmbaku@weber.edu>> wrote:
Dear KZS:
I am sorry, but when it comes to human atrocities in Africa, or anywhere else, I do not buy the "Devil-made-me-do-it" defense. South Sudanese soldiers are killing their fellow citizens and they must be made to account for their actions. Such behavior cannot be excused by reference to some supposed meddling by external actors. As an African, I cannot support any attempt to justify this shameful behavior on the part of individuals who took an oath to defend the people of South Sudan.
On Sunday, December 22, 2013, Emeagwali, Gloria (History) wrote:
The point of Dinka -Nuer conflict over cattle is noted.
Do we have specialists on the list who can comment
in more detail on the nature of their relationship during
and after the colonial era?
Professor Gloria Emeagwali
Prof. of History & African Studies
History Department
vimeo.com/user5946750/videos<http://vimeo.com/user5946750/videos>
Documentaries on Africa and the African Diaspora
________________________________
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com [usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of kwame zulu shabazz [kwameshabazz@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2013 7:17 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
Brother John,
There is nothing "nuanced" about ignoring the mostly negative role of western foreign policy in most African conflicts. In fact what you advocate is the antithesis of nuance. The point of nuance would not be simply blaming one side or the other, rather it demands that we analyze the complex relationship between internal and external forces. Stating the obvious and important fact that US/France/UK and the rest have profoundly influenced African geopolitics for the worse is not tantamount to claiming that African leaders are "mindless puppets." Nor does it mean that we that we shouldn't hold the shooters responsible who "kill their own brothers and sisters" (we might question your assumption that black aggressors view their black victims as "brothers and sisters"). As for Sudan, even before Arab and western interference, as I recall, Nuer and Dinkas, for example, were not on brotherly terms. For instance, I seem to remember that cattle raiding was common. Arabization and the increasingly scarcity of resources have combined to make Southern Sudanese conflicts more deadly. Also, the US and Israel have been supporting secession in Sudan since the early 80s. An appeal to nuance needs to have all of these factors on board. I have not followed the current crop of leaders closely, but Garang, I believe, was a masterful strategist. That doesn't mean that his strategy of leaning on the USA and Israel cannot have deleterious outcomes or that we can't hold the USA and Israel accountable for their malfeasance aimed at South Sudanese resources (US/Israel) and undermining Khartoum (Israel).
kzs
On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 6:47 PM, John Mbaku <jmbaku@weber.edu<mailto:jmbaku@weber.edu>> wrote:
How can anyone blame what is happening in South Sudan on outside actors? Who is undertaking the actual killing of people? Are not South Sudan soldiers pulling the trigger and killing their own brothers and sisters? Unless one argues that South Sudan leaders are just mindless puppets being manipulated by outside actors, I cannot see how the West can be blamed for what is currently taking place in South Sudan. The situation needs a more nuanced and contextual analysis and blaming the West is not it!
On Sat, Dec 21, 2013 at 4:21 PM, kwame zulu shabazz <kwameshabazz@gmail.com<mailto:kwameshabazz@gmail.com>> wrote:
Brother Layi,
"Looking inwards" is really not very different from what the white enslavers said about indigenous Americans, Tazmanians, Aboriginal Australians on and on. The justification was always that the victims were"warlike," or "backwards" or "heathens" thus "incapable of governing themselves." I think we can and must critique all sides of the problem. Yes, absolutely, we should demand that our misleaders do better, but we must also point out that they get lots of help. Looking over your list: the Belgians devastated Congo and, later, an American president, Eisenhower, authorized the assassination of Lumumba. The CIA then helped to prop up Mobutu. Charles Taylor was working with the CIA, magically escaped from a US prison and somehow made it back to West Africa w/out being detected. UNITA in Angola was backed by Reagan. "Outside (western) forces" have profoundly influenced African geopolitics. These are facts, not excuse making.
kzs
On Saturday, December 21, 2013 3:10:40 PM UTC-5, Abegunrin, Olayiwola M. wrote:
My people,
Why do we always blame outside forces for most of our problems in Africa? We need to look inward and see the kind of leadership who have imposed themselves on our peoples and claiming that they were elected to rule us. See what is happening in Democratic Republic of Congo, in Nigeria, in Central African Republic, in Liberia, in Angola and other countries in the continent. Are these so-called leaders committed to serve the African peoples or serve their personal pockets and their neo-colonial masters, especially the western Multinational Corporations that are been used as proxies? No outside power or powers can impose them-selves on us if our visionless, selfish, greedy rulers calling themselves leaders are not sellout or play into the hands of the outside powers. We need to wake up and look inward. People get the kind of government they deserve.
Layi
From: usaafric...@googlegroups.com [usaafric...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of william bangura [william....@gmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 21, 2013 1:06 PM
To: usaafric...@googlegroups.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - BLAME OBAMA FOR S. SUDAN
I am at the juncture where I hate to opine on the problems of sub-Saharan Africa. The architect of the independence of South Sudan, Susan Rice should have been prepared for this craziness in South Sudan where my brethren are suffering due to none of their exploits. President Obama should have critically analyzed the template of "independent" Africa to anticipate the current debacle.
William Bangura (WB)
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