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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:War of visions for the nation
Author:Deng, Francis MadingISNI
Year:1990
Periodical:Middle East Journal
Volume:44
Issue:4
Pages:596-609
Language:English
Geographic term:Sudan
Subjects:political ideologies
civil wars
violence
Muslim-Christian relations
External link:http://search.proquest.com/pao/docview/1290847185
Abstract:The war that has been raging intermittently in Sudan for more than three decades has generally been perceived as a cleavage between the dominant and more developed Arabized Muslim north and the subordinated, less developed, but potentially richer African south, predominantly traditional in its religious beliefs with a Christianized modern leadership. While this provides a useful starting point, it oversimplifies a more complex situation, for Sudan is a country in which myths have been highlighted to overshadow the realities of the national identity in its racial, cultural and religious diversity. Recently, the war has been crystallizing into an ideological confrontation between Islamists and secularists over competing visions for the nation, a development that has injected yet another element of oversimplification, but is also redrawing the map of political alignments across the north-south dividing line. As a result of this conflict, Sudan has largely failed to live up to its postulated role as an Afro-Arab microcosm and a strategic link between the continent and the Middle East. The author of this article believes that the main ideals for effective national unity are accepted by most Sudanese, but that there are many difficulties associated with the compromises necessary for the achievement of that unity. Perhaps the only encouraging development is that both parties appear to have accepted the principle of a federal constitution. The critical issue that remains to be resolved is that of the application of Islamic law. Notes, ref.
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