Pan-Arabism v. Pan-Africanism in the Sudan: The Crisis of Divergent Ethnic Ideologies

Abstract

This article examines the nature and the extent of political and c ultural conflict between Northern and Southern Sudanese. It describes and analyzes various attempts by Arab dominated regimes in the Sudan, since in dependence from Britain, to achieve national intergration through Pan-Arabist policies that seek to Islamize and Arabize the African and largely Christian South. The current military regime dominated by Muslim fundamentalists is trying to turn the Sudan into an Islamic republic. Not only has this brought about a civil war, but it has also alienated other Muslims in the North who favor a secular government.