environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in - Steiner Graphics

IntroductionWHILE in the Sudan protracted conflict seems to be heading towards the endof one of its major manifestations, the bloody war in the South, anotherequally murderous and dehumanising conflict erupts in Darfur. In spite ofthe numerous social, cultural, economic and political differences which characterisethe two regions, they still share many of the root causes that are behind each ofthe conflict situations.While the deeply entrenched causes affect other regions of the country as theydid in the South or now in Darfur, the particularity of each sub-conflict e.g. theEast, is incumbent on root-causes particular to the region and other varying secondaryor incidental causes. In analysing the conflicts in the Sudan, due considerationneeds to be given also to structural as well as external factors, namely theimpact of the global conflict system, and as we argue, systems.Academic research as well as practical politics did not fail to identify the obviousrelationships and linkages that justified describing or grouping adjacent nationalconflicts into a regional or sub-regional conflict system. The progressive departurefrom the classic perception of conflict as being either internal or external resultedin abandoning the dichotomous approach developed by the advocates of the RealistDoctrine of international relations. In Africa, arbitrary boarders that split indigenouspopulations between states inevitably blurred the internal nature of conflictsand justified the intervention of the co-host of the same ethnic group, in case ofinvolvement in disputes or conflicts.The notion that conflicts within a state’s boundaries are strictly a domesticaffair holds no water and is no longer acceptable to regional organisations [AU] orthe international community at large. Scholars who resent vehemently ‘internationalisation’of conflicts are to realise that though they are progressively deprivingindividual governments of absolute authority and control, that they are renderingthem entirely visible. Conflict analysis precedes conflict management. The methodology,approach and techniques of management depend, among other things, onthe characteristics and linkages of the overall conflict system. Resolving a conflictin the absence of those considerations is virtually futile.The Sudan conflict is integrally included in the Horn of Africa conflict system.The interlinkages and shared causes and sub-processes are evident. The Horn ofAfrica conflict system includes Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and some wouldinclude Kenya and Uganda. To relate the Darfur conflict sub-system to the globalSudan crises and conflict system is the first step towards understanding the impactthe Horn and other conflict systems have on Darfur. Sudan is included in anotherAfrican conflicts system namely the Greater Lakes conflict system. The interlinkages,shared causes and direct impact on the war in the South are obvious. The82