Darfur's conflict might be forgotten, but it's not over →

Global interest in the conflict in Darfur has faded, allowing the Sudanese government to effectively seal off the region to outsiders and take control of the narrative. The narrative it presents, though, is not terribly cohesive: In early September, for instance, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to Darfur to declare that peace had officially returned, just weeks after African Union-backed peace talks fell apart in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As international priorities have shifted, though, there appears to be little interest among global powers in challenging the government’s take, even as the reality that does emerge in the few unsanctioned dispatches from the region clearly undermines the official account. That includes a recent Amnesty International report documenting ongoing government-sanctioned violence across much of the region since the start of 2016. There is evidence those attacks may have included the use of chemical weapons against unarmed civilians. Read more.

Update: I was on World Politics Review's weekly podcast discussing the diminishing possibility of peace in Darfur.

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