The Sudan-Contested National Identities

by Lesch, Ann Mosely

• ISBN13: 9780253212276
• ISBN10: 0253212278
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Indiana Univ Pr

Summary

"This highly informative work digs into the intricate history of Sudanese politics. Lesch brings a welcome clarity to Sudan's tangle of political, ethnic, and religious problems by concentrating on the country's central dilemma: the inability of its leaders to negotiate a common definition of nationhood." -- Foreign Affairs"... the first correct account of what took place... after independence." -- Robert O. CollinsThe Sudan is torn by ethnic and religious conflict, centered on the struggle over the definition of the Sudanese nation-state. Is the Sudan primarily Arab or African by culture and ethnicity? Should the political system privilege Islamic legal codes or accord equal citizenship to persons of all faiths? Ann Mosely Lesch provides a comprehensive and even-handed analysis of the unresolved struggle for a stable political system and a unified national identity.

Author Biography

Ann Mosely Lesch is Professor of Political Science at Villanova University, coauthor (with Mark Tessler) of Israel, Egypt, and the Palestinians, and principal author of Transition to Palestinian Self-Government: Practical Steps toward Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Abbreviations	xi
Part 1: Background and Context
The Problem of National Identity	3	(22)
Historical Legacies	25	(20)
The Contradictory Policies of Numairi, 1969-1985	45	(16)
Part 2: The Democratic Period, 1985-1989
The Transition to Democracy	61	(15)
Polarization during the Parliamentary Period	76	(12)
Efforts to Resolve the Civil War	88	(25)
Part 3: Polarization under the Islamist Government
The Evolving Political System	113	(16)
Indoctrination and Control	129	(19)
The Fragmented Opposition	148	(19)
The Impasse in Negotiations	167	(20)
The Emerging Consensus within the Opposition Movement	187	(23)
Conclusion	210	(21)
Appendix: The Changing Composition of Governments
1 Transitional Military Council, 1985-1986	219	(1)
2 Interim Council of Ministers, 1985-1986	219	(1)
3 Council of State, 1986	220	(1)
4 First Council of Ministers, May 1986	221	(1)
5 Second Council of Ministers, June 1987	222	(1)
6 Third Council of Ministers, May 1988	223	(1)
7 Fourth Council of Ministers, December 1988 and February 1989	224	(1)
8 Fifth Council of Ministers, March 1989	225	(1)
9 Revolutionary Command Council, July 1989	226	(1)
10 Council of Ministers, July 1989	227	(2)
11 Council of Ministers, October 1993	229	(2)
Glossary	231	(2)
Notes	233	(50)
Selected Bibliography	283	(10)
Index	293