ABSTRACT
Sudan has a long history of armed conflict. The first North-South civil war (1955–1972) was followed by a decade of relative peace, but by 1983 a second conflict had begun that left over 2 million dead and 4 million internally displaced (ICG 2002). The signing of the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA), in 2005, brought an end to the second North-South civil war, but peace remains elusive in Sudan. As the planned 2011 referendum for the secession of Southern Sudan approaches, environmental degradation linked to oil development—which is among the many causes of armed conflict in the region—continues to inflame violence at the local level.
