Eric Reeves

US-Sudan ties: The Darfur dilemma

Obama's new policy of "carrots along with sticks" towards Sudan has drawn ridicule and derision both on the part of some humanitarian organizations and mainstream US media. "Naive" is the term most widely used by those critics to describe Obama's special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration.

While the Sudanese doubt the possibility of any major change in US policies towards Sudan, western critics of the new policy doubt if there will be any major change in the Sudanese government's behaviour with regard to the conflict in Darfur in particular. They believe the US government has decided to reward the regime in Khartoum with incentives in exchange for empty promises from that regime.