Glimmers

Months ago now, sfkuma was complaining about Sudan--more specifically, about the USA's failure to stop slave trading there. Well, thanks in no small part to the political and economic pressure brought to bear by the pugnacious Bush regime, five decades of warfare may be coming to an end.

Unfortunately, the Economist article is "premium content", which means that non-subscribers may not be able to access it. But here's the critical paragraph:

Foreign pressure has been crucial. If the Sudanese government does not negotiate in good faith, America has threatened to choke it with economic sanctions and bankroll the SPLA. The regime thinks this unfair, but it takes threats from the Bush administration seriously, so it has made enough concessions, at least on paper, for the Americans to declare last month that it was indeed showing good faith.

Of course, standard disclaimers apply (e.g. there have been ceasefires before and they haven't held, who knows whether the next administration will continue the policy, etc.). Nevertheless, this is the nearest I've seen to a peace settlement there in my lifetime. In other good news, the reunification of Cyprus--divided since bunj was six months old--is also looking closer than ever. I'm especially heartened to see how ordinary citizens are pressuring their recalcitrant leaders (this means you, Mr Denktash!) to accept a compromise.

In both conflicts, economic motives are key. Turkish Cypriots need jobs and Greek Cypriots need workers. Sudan wants trade and other countries want her oil. More evidence, to my mind, that channeling (rather than opposing) people's enlightened self-interest is vital to accomplishing anything.