Jonathan Temin

Violence once again has flared up between Sudanese and South Sudanese forces in an oil-rich region on their disputed border. Jon Temin, director of USIP's Sudan programs, discusses what's behind the renewed fighting and what is at stake for the region and international community.

Amid intensified fighting in the disputed area along the South Sudan and Sudan border, USIP has been on the ground in both nations, assisting officials and civil society groups to develop constitutions in an inclusive, participatory and transparent manner.

Despite dire predictions of violence around the referendum on the secession of southern Sudan, the vote in 2011 was largely peaceful. Understanding why is key to future efforts to prevent conflict.

USIP hosts an online roundtable among three experts on the crisis with oil in Sudan and South Sudan and how it might unfold. 

Jonathan Temin, director of Sudan programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, testified on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 14, 2012.

USIP experts look back at 2011 and ahead to 2012 on the Two Sudans, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Arab/Israeli conflict, gender issues, and more.

Though significant humanitarian needs in South Sudan continue, the government of the world’s newest nation wants international aid to shift toward long-term development efforts, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan’s minister of information, told an audience at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on December 13.

The government of Sudan should halt its military attacks in border regions adjacent to newly independent South Sudan and meet all of its obligations under the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Johnnie Carson, the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, said during a conference at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) on July 14.

With the overwhelming vote in favor of separation, a new nation will be born on Saturday, July 9: the Republic of South Sudan.

USIP’s Andrew Blum and Jon Temin discuss the recent troubling developments in Sudan and why there are renewed concerns about prospects for peace in Sudan.

USIP’s Jon Temin and Jacki Wilson discuss the recent hostilities in Abyei, Sudan – and why it threatens the stability of the soon-to-be Republic of South Sudan and the overall region.

This summer, Sudan splits into two countries after a reasonably peaceful referendum earlier this year. But even as the country prepares to go separate ways – Southern Sudan is expected to declare its independence July 9th – there remain a number of issues that, if unresolved, put at risk the hard won peace.

USIP's Jon Temin discusses how violence could be a factor in Sudan's final referendum results.

The referendum in Sudan took place from January 9-15, 2011, to decide on whether the Southern region should remain a part of Sudan or be independent. The referendum is one of the consequences of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Khartoum central government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M).

His Excellency General Salva Kiir Mayardit, first vice president of Sudan and president of the Government of Southern Sudan, met with international leaders, including President Barack Obama, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week about Sudan’s highly anticipated referenda scheduled for January 2011. In advance of the U.N. meetings, Kiir spoke at the United States Institute of Peace on September 20.

The seven-year conflict in Darfur, Sudan has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Darfuris and left millions homeless, amid clashes among various rebel groups, government forces and allied militias. In what could be a step towards ending that conflict, the Sudanese government and the Darfuri rebel group, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), signed a cease-fire agreement on February 23, 2010.

Most international attention devoted to Sudan has focused on the nationwide elections and the 2011 referendum on the status of southern Sudan.  Yet, there are other aspects of the north-south dynamic deserving of discussion and strategic thinking that don't receive their due.  In a new Peace Brief, USIP's Jon Temin examines six important issues and questions that require more consideration as the decisive events in Sudan’s political history approach.

Across the globe, media have been used as tools to inflame grievances and accelerate the escalation towards violent conflict. In Rwanda, radio was used to lay the groundwork for genocide.