A Widening War around Sudan: the Proliferation of Armed Groups in the Central African Republic (HSBA Issue Brief 5)
A Widening War around Sudan: the Proliferation of Armed Groups in the Central African Republic examines the origins and diffusion of armed groups in northern CAR and emerging responses to instability in the border areas with Sudan and Chad. With the United Nations considering the deployment of a peacekeeping mission to both Chad and CAR to shore up the ineffectual Darfur Peace Agreement, a tentative regional approach is emerging.4 But any large-scale UN deployment will take at least six months to reach the region, and CAR’s present security needs are acute.
If the anticipated peacekeeping operation—whether single-country or regional in nature—is to achieve its objectives, care must be taken now to ensure that its mandate, the mobility of its staff, and the geographic distribution of its forces as well as the duration of their presence truly correspond to current needs and challenges. An inappropriate, ineffective, or delayed response is likely to further destabilize the region, encouraging continued support for armed groups by Sudan, additional internal displacement, and the escalation of refugee and IDP militarization. The success of any international mission will depend in large part on a clear and nuanced understanding of the dynamics of the region’s unstable socio-political landscape.
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