Sudan: State and Society in Crisis (review)

Book Reviews 141 Sudan: State and Society in Crisis John O. Voll Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991. Pp. xi, 170. Map and table. It is a sign of just how little has changed for the better in Sudan that this book, originally published in 1990 as a series of articles in The Middle East Journal, remains an accurate and relevant account of what ails Africa's largest country. Indeed, much of its analysis—the reasons for economic collapse and ethnic conflict—might have been written last week. Of course, some political facts in Sudan have changed since these essays were first composed, but they are changes of degree more than kind. If Sudan is worse off now than it was seven years ago, the authors of this book still have insightful and instructive things to say about how this disaster came about. The next government to rule in Khartoum, if it is to have any hope of repairing the damages in this fractured country, should take heed of what these authors have to say. Of the eight essays assembled here, five examine various aspects of Sudan's political problems and three focus on the economy. This categorization is somewhat imprecise, however, since all essays emphasize the interrelatedness of political and economic affairs, and most situate their analysis within a historical context. None assign personal blame for the country's woes, though all unflinchingly identify the failures of policies and politicians, and all raise the question of what solutions still remain possible. Peter Bechtold's "More Turbulence in Sudan" notes the rise of a highly polarized political culture since the 1989 Islamist coup of Umar Hasan alBashir . Bechtold attributes this to the failure of Sudanese democracy since independence, owing to the deterioration of coalition politics into "a game of musical chairs" (p. 8); corrupt and incompetent administration, leading to a foreign debt that by 1985 exceeded the country's GDP; and the unwillingness and/or inability of northern politicians to endorse the good intentions of the Koka Dam agreement (1986), leaving intact the "September Laws" that have fueled civil war. Bashir's "new style" of politics is the result. Combining a distrust for civilian politicians and a rejection of parliamentary democracy with ideologically-based purges of civil, academic, and professional ranks, such that "the traditional center seems to have disappeared" (20) and "intolerance for all dissenters," is now 142 Book Reviews the rule (p. 21). Bechtold suggests why old political models may no longer be effective, and warns (presciently, it turns out) that future political discourse may be wholly antagonistic and detrimental to governance. Francis Deng's "War of Visions for the Nation" is perhaps the most original contribution, highlighting many complexities usually absent in analyses of the Sudan. Thus, the bifurcation of Sudan between "Northern/Arab/Islamic" and "Southern/animist-Christian" is said to presuppose "a degree of racial, cultural, and religious homogeneity that oversimplifies and falsifies a dynamic picture of pluralism with internal differences" (26). With attention to such factors as colonial history, the roles of professional organizations and trade unions, cultural values, and religious ideas, Deng identifies a conflict over differing national visions, suggesting why compromise and accommodation are so difficult for the Sudanese to achieve. Ann Lesch's study of Sudan's foreign policy, "In Search of Arms, Aid, and Allies," discusses the failure of past diplomacy to ameliorate the country's problems. Much foreign policy, we learn, has been counterproductive , complicating internal rifts with inconsistent, "indeed, selfcontradictory ," initiatives. The price of Sudan's failed diplomacy, in terms of both external support and internal credibility, is clearly outlined. Two essays next examine what might be termed "the Islamist phenomenon." Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban ("Islamization in Sudan") sets the present regime of Bashir in its historical context, beginning with the Turkish and Mahdist regimes of the nineteenth century and concluding with ex-president Numayri's introduction of Shari'a in September 1983. Gabriel Warburg's "Shari'a in Sudan" is a close study of the reasons behind Numayri's Islamist policies and Bashir's coup of 1989, with particular emphasis on political and economic forces. Taken together, these essays provide one ofthe most lucid explanations for Sudan's Islamist...