Washington National Cathedral

The Sunday Forum: Critical Issues in the Light of Faith

The Very Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd III, host

Is there a realistic solution for peace in Darfur? Cathedral Dean Samuel T. Lloyd III and writer Andrew Natsios explore the complicated situation in Darfur and the hope for a lasting peace in Sudan.

Darfur has been in and out of three wars in the past forty years, beginning when Muammar Qaddafi sought to expand Libya’s influence in the region. Natsios gives a detailed overview of a highly complex conflict that many Americans have heard of, but few understand. (He recommends The New History of a Long War by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal as a good account.)

The most recent war, in northern Sudan, began in 2003. The combatants share in common the Sunni Muslim religious tradition, but they belong to different ethnic groups. Nile River Arabs make up a powerful minority that runs Sudan. The rebels, from African and non–Nile River Arab tribes, resent what Natsios calls the “arabization” of the country. Early in the current conflict, Sudanese military forces won four battles against the rebels—but lost 34 battles. The government of Sudan eventually recruited and armed the impoverished and desperate Janjaweed, who have committed many atrocities against members of the rebels’ tribes.

The largest United Nations force in history is now stationed in Sudan to keep some semblance of order. Sudan, roughly the size of half of the continental United States, has huge unexplored deposits of oil and minerals, particularly in the south. Development is in its infancy.

Natsios counsels against trying to “fix” Sudan, whether by war or other means. Instead he recommends policies of mediation and efforts to strengthen southern Sudan (which might soon form a separate nation) against renewed intimidation and attack from the north. Policies should also aim to prevent the breakup of the north, in order to avert further atrocities and additional destabilization.

An Orthodox Christian educated at Georgetown University, Natsios draws insight from James 4:17: “Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin.” The first responsibility, he points out, is to know what to do.

About Andrew S. Natsios

Andrew S. Natsios is distinguished professor in the practice of diplomacy at Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service. He is also a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development. Natsios served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2001 to January 2006. In addition to his teaching at Georgetown he served as President Bush’s special envoy to Sudan from October 2006 to December 2007. A former member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for six terms, he also served in state government as the secretary of administration and finance, and the CEO of the Big Dig in Boston, the largest construction project in American history. From 1993 to 1998, Natsios was vice president of World Vision U.S., the largest faith-based NGO in the world. Natsios is the author of two books, U.S. Foreign Policy and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1997) and The Great North Korean Famine (2001), collaborated on eight other books, and numerous articles.