Comments on: No time to relieve Sudan’s debt (my op-ed in a Turkish paper) http://www.seanbrooks.net/2009/10/no-time-to-relieve-sudans-debt-my-op-ed-in-a-turkish-paper/ A blog about the politics and conflicts of the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, and the role of the United States in facilitating peacemaking, state-building and economic development in the region. Wed, 21 Apr 2010 03:53:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Sean Brooks http://www.seanbrooks.net/2009/10/no-time-to-relieve-sudans-debt-my-op-ed-in-a-turkish-paper/comment-page-1/#comment-12 Sean Brooks Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:49:03 +0000 http://www.seanbrooks.net/?p=87#comment-12 I agree with you Lauren. As the Obama Administration rolled out its Sudan policy this week, it kept repeating the need to closely calibrate incentives and pressures with changing realities on the ground. These policies should be results-oriented. If they fail to move the regime, a new approach for promoting human rights and better governance in Sudan should be tried. At this point though, the U.S. is putting forward a strategy with a regime that indicates it does want better relations with the U.S. - a quite different scenario than in Iraq in the 1990s. So the onus really should be on the Sudanese government. From consultations with Sudanese human rights activists and advocates for democracy, they surely do not want the regime to be rewarded by the US before it takes considerable steps to resolve the conflict in Darfur and begins to tear down the repressive mechanisms of power. I agree with you Lauren. As the Obama Administration rolled out its Sudan policy this week, it kept repeating the need to closely calibrate incentives and pressures with changing realities on the ground. These policies should be results-oriented. If they fail to move the regime, a new approach for promoting human rights and better governance in Sudan should be tried.

At this point though, the U.S. is putting forward a strategy with a regime that indicates it does want better relations with the U.S. – a quite different scenario than in Iraq in the 1990s. So the onus really should be on the Sudanese government. From consultations with Sudanese human rights activists and advocates for democracy, they surely do not want the regime to be rewarded by the US before it takes considerable steps to resolve the conflict in Darfur and begins to tear down the repressive mechanisms of power.

]]> By: Lauren http://www.seanbrooks.net/2009/10/no-time-to-relieve-sudans-debt-my-op-ed-in-a-turkish-paper/comment-page-1/#comment-10 Lauren Thu, 22 Oct 2009 18:55:26 +0000 http://www.seanbrooks.net/?p=87#comment-10 Great post, and I agree with the strategy. But at the same time I wonder if there's a way to ensure that this really works as an incentive and not just a punishment. (I am thinking of Iraq through the 1990s, where the burden of sanctions fell mostly on the people, not the govt.) I know we're talking about debt here which is different, but still the cynic in me still wonders whether Bashir et al will really be moved by this. Great post, and I agree with the strategy. But at the same time I wonder if there’s a way to ensure that this really works as an incentive and not just a punishment. (I am thinking of Iraq through the 1990s, where the burden of sanctions fell mostly on the people, not the govt.) I know we’re talking about debt here which is different, but still the cynic in me still wonders whether Bashir et al will really be moved by this.

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