Patriotism in Sudan

by Tammy Alexander

Most of us in the U.S. describe ourselves as Americans more often than we describe ourselves as Virginians or Hoosiers or Buckeyes. Whatever our views on patriotism, we don’t have too much trouble identifying ourselves as members of this collective that we call the United States.

But how does patriotism look in a country like Sudan—a country constructed by a colonial power out of several different and disparate regions and given its independence just 52 years ago?

When we hear Sudan described in the news, it is often in terms of the conflicts between the different regions—Darfur, the North, the South. Many outside of Sudan see the best hope of peace as a unified, albeit reformed, Sudan with a more democratic, representative government, a more equitable sharing of wealth, and a certain degree of autonomy for each region.

The 2005 Comprehensive PeaceAgreement (CPA) between the North and the South contains provisions for just these types of reforms. The CPA laid out a time table for a census in 2008, elections in 2009, and a vote on southern secession in 2011.

The vote on secession will give southern Sudanese the option of forming a wholly independent nation. This provision, it was hoped, would not only provide southern Sudanese with a measure of self-determination, but also motivate government officials in the North to live up to their side of the bargain and make a unified Sudan more attractive to those in the South.

How will southern Sudanese define their allegiances in 2011? Will they see themselves as part of a larger Sudan, or will their patriotic energies be focused on building a new, independent nation in the South? At the moment, the prospects for a unified Sudan do not look good.

In May, violence broke out in Abyei, a contested town along the north-south border. Both sides blamed the other in what has been called the worst escalation of violence since the peace agreement was signed.

Most of the town’s 100,000 residents— many of whom had only recently returned— fled and left Abyei largely deserted. Nyajith Mading, a southern Sudanese woman living in the North, had returned to Abyei only a month before. “I heard bombing and the sound of guns and saw people killed,” she said. “I took my child and I ran.”

How we define our patriotism is shaped by a variety of allegiances—to family, tribe, nation, religion, even money and power. It is also shaped by our values and our determination of what best helps us to keep our families safe and meet our basic needs.

In the case of Sudan, we should be careful that ourWestern notions of patriotism do not cloud our judgment. From our position of relative security and stability, we may assume that keeping a country together is better than letting it split apart. Ultimately, it is not our decision to make.

We can certainly counsel both sides that splitting may only lead to more bloodshed. We can and should do all we can to encourage officials in both the North and the South to live up to the promises they made in the CPA. And we can continue to support our Sudanese partners’ projects to bring reconstruction, peace and healing in the South, as MCC is doing through its work to rebuild schools and wells.

But, in the end, U.S. citizens and U.S. policy must respect that the Sudanese will decide their allegiances and their future.