Racial and ethnic profiling, targeted violence, and collective punishment are proving to be a common feature of both Sudan’s and South Sudan’s current wars. This is not merely incidental racism, but rather a well-established method for imposing ethnonationalist borders around political communities and territory. In effect, the future polities of the two countries are being built through violence, exploitation and displacement, legitimated by narratives centred around racial identity and threat.
This briefing note describes how Sudanese and South Sudanese ‘elites’ use the material benefits of racial violence not only for military recruitment, but also to expand their economic bases.
An Arabic translation of this paper is available here.