Course: INTA 601 International Relations

Topic: The Role of Religion in Civil Wars: The Case of Sudan

Lecturers: Dr. Yao Gebe || Dr. Peace Medie

Name: Dieu-Donne Gameli

ID: 10303831

Submitted: December 1, 2014

Abstract
Religious civil wars are noted for being more deadly, lasting longer and not appealing to reason in
reaching compromises. Using the roles of religion put forward by renowned international relations
scholar, Monica Duffy Toft, we will examine the Sudan civil war. We substantiate that religions
role in the Sudan civil war was, among others, to cause bargaining intransigence, conflict escalation
and religious outbidding.

Introduction
The study of religion is gradually gaining grounds among scholars of international relations as it
has increased the understanding of the international system1. However much of the research or
study in the field is skewed towards terrorism or trying to prove Samuel Huntingtons Clash of
Civilizations. Religion, having existed with man for much of recorded history, has been the cause
(or been a part) of some of the conflicts that plague our societies. These include civil wars which
are taking on new dimensions under the international system. Religious rebellions like the one
experienced in Algeria, and religious conflicts like those in Sri Lanka, the former Yugoslavia, the
Kashmir province of India, and Israel, to name just a few all have international implications2. The
international dimensions of religious civil wars are based on religious identity and ideology where
parties seek legitimacy and support from states or actors that have similar religious identity. Also
due to the globalization of religious networks, one states religious violence has the power to seep
into the affairs of another3. This paper seeks to critically analyze the role of religion in civil wars
using Sudans civil War as a case study.
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Religion and Civil War

Scholars are particularly interested in the nature of religious conflicts (civil wars) being
uncompromising in its ideals and encouraging its followers to discount their physical survival for
rewards of immortality4. These tend to make religious civil wars more deadly than non-religious
civil wars5. With these in mind, scholars have set out to find out the role religion plays in civil wars.
It should be noted that there are some civil wars in which religion plays a peripheral role and as
such is not the main issue of contention. Our focus will be on those religious civil war in which
religion is central to the conflict or has moved from the periphery to the center of the conflict.
Role of Religion
We will be examining the work of renowned international relations scholar on religion and civil
wars, Monica Duffy Toft and applying it to the case of Sudan. She argues that religion performs
three essential roles when it comes to civil wars. First, she talks of religious outbidding which is the
likelihood for religion to become central to a civil war when political elites evoke religious doctrine
and beliefs in an effort to maintain or attract domestic and international support. Secondly, religion
in civil wars leads to bargaining intransigence, where it becomes difficult to mediate or settle the
conflict due to the uncompromising position taken by opposing sides. Third, she argues that the
introduction of religion into a civil war or conflict tends to escalate it.
Religious outbidding is more pronounced where threatened political elites seek support or attempt
to demobilize opposition by reframing secular conflicts as religious conflicts 6. This does not only
help legitimize their resort to conflict but also makes it easy for the political elite to get support
from their global religious movement.

Religious beliefs often lead parties to take entrenched positions for which they are unwilling to
compromise. This leads to bargaining intransigence which makes it difficult for both sides to reach
a compromise that could lead to the resolution of the conflict. Svensson7 finds that civil wars where
the rebel groups or government has explicit demands related to religious beliefs are significantly
less likely to be ended through negotiated settlements than are civil wars where neither the rebel
group nor government has any religious dimensions in their demands. When religion interferes with
bargaining, combatants may go on killing each other long after there is any political, economic or
social utility for doing so.
Religion in civil wars often leads to its escalation. Pearce8 confirmed the conventional wisdom that
religious conflicts are more intense than other types of conflicts. This is also partly because religion
tends to justify the killing of civilian populations even where they are not directly involved in the
conflicts.
The Sudan Civil War
The Sudan Civil war was chosen because it contains a wealth of history and events to test the role
of religion in civil wars. I begin with a very brief and summarized historical background9.
The country, Sudan, dates back to biblical times when it was known as "Cush." The present
Republic of the Sudan got its name from the word "Bilaad-el-sud" which in the Aramaic means
"Country of the Blacks." In 450AD Christianity spread through Northern Sudan, and the religion
flourished there for about 1,000 years. Meanwhile, in about 700AD, Arab invaders invaded the land
and spread Islam. In 1889, Britain and Egypt separated Sudan into Northern and Southern Sudan.
Northern Sudan was populated by people who practiced Islam, while Southern Sudan became rich
in African culture and Christianity. In 1947, however, the British decided that Northern and
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Southern Sudan should unite to become one country. This is considered a mistake because the
Northern and Southern people were so different, especially religiously, which led to the first civil
war in Sudan in 1955. The first civil war in Sudan was a struggle to free Southern Sudan from the
Islamic North part and lasted from 1955-1972. Between 750,000 and 1,500,000 Southern Sudanese
died in this war. Finally, a peace agreement called the Addis Ababa Agreement was signed.
Peace lasted for about ten years, but when the Southern Sudanese realized they would never gain
true independence, they began to rebel. Sudan's second civil war started on May 16th, 1983. This
civil war was largely about the desire on the part of the northern Sudanese to impose Islamic
(Sharia) law on the entire country. Even though most of the people in the northern part of Sudan are
Arab Muslims, Arab Muslims make up only around 33% of the total population of Sudan. In the
civil war more than 2 million Sudanese Christians who lived in the south of Sudan were killed. The
war was largely a religious war between Muslims and Christians. This war continued until an
interim peace agreement was negotiated in 2005. The interim peace agreement expired in 2010,
after which time the people of the southern Sudan held a referendum to decide whether they wanted
to be part of a unified Sudan, or whether they would rather form their own independent country. On
July 9, 2011 South Sudan became an independent State with a population of eight million people.
This promises some level of perpetual peace, however, we look to the future to confirm whether the
conflict is truly history.
Analysis
Religious Outbidding
As the brief history above shows, religion played a role in both Sudans first and second civil wars;
however it was more prominent and central in the second civil war. The elite in Sudan, in order to
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bolster their credibility and power to rule, introduced and intensified the sharia law in 1983. This
led to the abrogation of the Addis Ababa peace agreement. The Islamic government casted the
renewed war as Jihad and its soldiers as holy warriors10. The Islamization agenda being pushed
forth during the second civil war enabled the regime to obtain a good deal of legitimacy and
financial support from outside of Sudans borders from fellow Muslims and Arab states 11. The
transnational dimensions of religion, and in particular Islam in the current era, explains why
religious outbidding has the character of starting out local and then becoming more global. A bid
for increased religious legitimacy in this context implies increased access to arms, cash and
fighters who will, as part of a religious obligation, travel to the site of conflict and support
whichever leader has done the best job of establishing his religious credentials 12. Bargaining
Intransigence
Bargaining peace during the civil war in Sudan was very difficult especially due to the opposing
views of the two sides. For a long time during the conflict, the Souths main position during the
conflict was to be granted greater autonomy to manage its own affairs. The Norths position to
impose Sharia law all over Sudan, including Christian and pagan south, was met with serious
rejection as they say it as undermining their way of life and faith. Also, because a direct
commandment from God will be necessary to stop a war that was previously justified to be Gods
will, religious civil war in which religion has become central will present a situation in which it is
less likely to reach a decisive outcome. This was the case in Sudan. When religion was very central,
the period of religious fundamentalism from 1989 to 1996, it was impossible to reach any outcome.
However, when religious fundamentalism was defeated and religion begun to play a more periphery
role, there started to be more compromises which eventually led to the January, 2005 signing of the
Naivasha (North-South) Comprehensive Peace Agreement. A statement by the then Ethiopian
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Prime Minister Meles Zenawi best reflects how the diminishing role of radical Islamists in Sudan
eventually paved the way for the peace agreement: Ideologically and politically, the form of
fundamentalism that was ascendant from 1989 to 1996 in Khartoum is defeated. However, Islamic
values are still there, and will be a political factor for a long time. But the virulent, messianic,
export-oriented Islamism has dwindled in significance and has become inward-looking13.
Conflict Escalation
The second civil war witnessed religion becoming more central to the conflict leading to an
escalation of its intensity. The average number of non-combatant deaths in the second civil war was
three times greater than the average number of non-combatant deaths in the first civil war14. That is
to say, the second civil war which followed the Norths deliberate abrogation of the Addis Ababa
agreement and led to the imposition of Sharia Law on the South was far more brutal than the first
civil war. In it, civilians became the systematic targets of a host of abuses, ranging from forced
slavery and mass murder to forced starvation. During the 22 years of the second civil war, roughly
2.2 million civilians were killed and another four million were displaced compared to the 17 years
of the first civil war in which a half million, of which only 20 percent were considered armed
combatants, were killed and hundreds of thousands more displaced from their homes15.
Conclusion
In this paper, we examined the role of religion in civil wars with particular emphasis on those that
religion is central to and not just on the periphery. We examined the three roles of religion as put
forward by the renowned international relations scholar on religion and civil war, Monica D. Toft.
These roles have been substantiated in the Sudan civil war particularly in the second civil war
where religion became central to the conflict. The new country of South Sudan, at the time of
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writing, remains in existence despite tensions with Sudan to the north. Should the tensions escalate
again into a full-fledged conflict, given their history, religion is sure to play a part.

Endnotes

Toft, M. D. (2013). Religion and Civil Wars: Next Steps? In e. Michael C. Desch and Daniel Philpott (Ed.),
Religion and International Relations: A Primer for Research

Fox, J. (2001). Religion as an overlooked element of international relations. International Studies Review,
3(3), 53-73.

Toft, M. D. (2013). op. cit.

Toft, M. D. (2006). Religion, Civil War, and International Order. Discussion Paper 2006-03, Belfer Center
for Science and International Affairs.

Pearce, S. (2005). Religious rage: A quantitative analysis of the intensity of religious conflicts. Terrorism
and political violence, 17(3), 333-352.

Toft, M. D. (2013). THE POLITICS OF RELIGIOUS OUTBIDDING. The Review of Faith &
International Affairs, 11(3), 10-19. doi: 10.1080/15570274.2013.829992

Svensson, I. (2007). Fighting with Faith Religion and Conflict Resolution in Civil Wars. Journal of
Conflict Resolution, 51(6), 930-949.

Pearce, S. op. cit.

Summarized from: Berkley Center for Religion, P., and World Affairs. (2013). Sudan: Race and Religion
in Civil War. Religion and Conflict Case Study Series.

10

Toft, M. D. (2013). op. cit.

11

Ibid

12

Ibid

13

Prendergast, J., Galic, M., Dubey, R., Roessler, P., & Macgregor, D. (2002). God, oil and country:
changing the logic of war in Sudan. ICG, London.

14

Toft, M. D. (2006). Op. cit.

15

Berkley Center for Religion, P., and World Affairs. (2013). Sudan: Race and Religion in Civil War.
Religion and Conflict Case Study Series.