A natureza da guerra no Sudão: o paradigma dos conflitos étnicos e as causas políticas da violência naturalizada

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present a study with a theoretical basis on conflicts in Africa, specifically the case of Sudan, challenging the "ethnic" explanations and rationales for the outbreak of these conflicts and addressing the root causes of the current war in Sudan. Based on a qualitative analysis of structural and systemic phenomena, the evolution and historiography of Sudan in particular, as well as its achievements and challenges with repercussions in the international system, the aim is to understand and investigate the other motivations behind the centuries-old crises of community and national identity that remain involved in a vicious cycle of clashes between North and South, classified by the West as ethnic conflicts. These identities play an important role, as they serve as a resource for political-economic mobilization, institutionalization and perpetuation, which are reflected in the notion of naturalized violence. The conclusion is that the formation of a national and unitary state is a process marked by struggles between the centrist and northern elites and the periphery of the state, in search of definitive emancipation - characteristics that are recurrent and inherent in the various African states. Therefore, the maintenance of power, the choices of paths, the colonial legacies and the imperialist logic of the relationship between Khartoum and its peripheries, defined as the Marginalized State, are the main causes of Sudan's historical conflicts, which are influenced by regional and international policies that shape and undermine the country's progress.