Summary
Saskia Baas
Grondstof voor conflicten: de vloek van de olie in Soedan
Saskia Baas surveys Sudan's so-called 'oil curse'. In Sudan, a peace agreement was signed in 2005 between the Sudanese government - represented by the ruling National Congress Party - and a rebel movement from South Sudan, the SPLM/A. The agreement put an end to what has been Africa's longest running civil war. Theoretically, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) together with Sudan's booming oil-industry provides a window of opportunity to establish sustainable peace and development in Sudan. But the large quantities of oil - located mainly in the South and along the border between north and south - may in effect prove to be an obstacle to peace and development, a phenomenon often referred to as the 'oil curse'. The author explores the effects of the oil-curse on the implementation of the peace agreement in Sudan and offers recommendations for Dutch policy vis-a-vis (South) Sudan.