A year ago Sudan was split into 2 countries – Sudan and South Sudan. It has been and is a nightmare. Right now Sudan’s President is killing his own people in the Nuba Mountains and there are some internal protests (possible Arab Spring?) It is no surprise that it is a nightmare…the country was divided but the borders were never firmly set (you know that is a recipe for disaster.) And besides the borders, there is the issue of money / oil. Read below…it could not be worse…one country has the oil, the other has the only transport to market (pipeline) and they have no working deal between them. You could not set them up to fail more than to divide the country without firming up the borders and the oil. Meanwhile the citizens suffer immensely…bombed and starving to death.
—-
“….Sudan’s economy has been in a free fall since the start of the year, when the newly independent nation of South Sudan, which split off a year ago, completely shut down oil production. Most of the oil in the Sudans lies in the south, but the pipeline runs through the north. The two sides have yet to agree on a formula to share oil profits and are now locked in a very dangerous game of brinkmanship.
Economic woes are rapidly
…” [from today's New York Times]
