Dan Connell

Massive injections of U.S. and Soviet arms have kept the war raging between northern and southern Sudan for nearly a half-century.

The latest State Department call for progress in the stalled Ethiopia-Eritrea peace accord–issued this week and coming on the heels of similar expressions of concern by European diplomats last week–is welcome news for those fearing the renewal of war.

The conflict in Sudan is considerably more complicated than the simple north-south, Muslim vs. Christian, Arab vs. African duality many of those now lobbying the administration present.

Peace efforts by the international community—particularly the U.S.—lost momentum after the signing of the Algiers accords.

Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia became official in May 1993, through a United Nations-monitored referendum in which 99.8% of the voters opted for sovereignty.

Sudan’s size, strategic location, and as-yet-unexploited oil reserves made it a cold war target of superpower intervention.