Historical and Cultural Roots of the Conflict in Sudan's Darfur Region

Sergey Kostelyanets focuses on the historical and cultural background and causes of the conflict in Sudan's Darfur region, which commenced in 2003 and has been continuing with greater or smaller intensity until present. The author finds the roots of the current confrontation in certain aspects of the policies of sultans of Darfur (the 17th–20th centuries), in the Mahdist uprising (the late 19th century), in the colonial Sudanese politics of Great Britain, and in the policies of the Sudanese governments of the postcolonial period. Kostelyanets emphasizes that the racial and tribal affiliation of Darfurians remains a powerful factor of conflict, but refutes the opinion of those researchers who believe that the conflict in Darfur is primarily a confrontation between Arabs and non-Arabs living in the region. In particular, it is noted that the majority of Arabs in the region are not genetic Arabs, but Arabized Africans, so the conflict between Arabs and Africans is artificial and is largely a product of the policy of ‘divide and rule'. The author believes that the main reasons and prerequisites for the conflict include the lack of access to natural resources for many groups of the population, the economic and political marginalization of the region, the unresolved land issue, and ill-advised administrative reforms.