Evaluating the role of the United Nations in Sudan : is the United Nations failing in its duty to the African continent?

Abstract

The United Nations is the largest and oldest intergovernmental organization in the world. Like any organization, it is subject to scrutiny and criticism of its work. This thesis focuses on the United Nations' role within the country of Sudan, as a case study, to determine whether the United Nations is failing in its duty on the African continent. I study two specific events in Sudan’s history that are times of conflict and instability, which would typically be a period that prompts UN intervention. The first event is the Darfur Genocide of 2003-2005. The second event consists of the 2019 revolution and the fall of Omar al-Bashir and his brutal dictatorial reign until December of 2024, and specifically the conflict between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). Across these two events, I evaluated the United Nations along three distinct themes: 1) their ability to provide humanitarian assistance; 2) their ability to prosecute parties involved in the conflict and other crimes that could be judged under the International Criminal Court; and 3) their ability to offer protection of the country’s resources. I chose this framework as I believe it can comprehensively analyze if, as time has passed, the UN sought to enter, acclimatize, and improve continuously their purpose and conduct in the nation or, if the organization has decidedly failed to serve Sudan every step of the way. My findings drawn from the two sperate events of my case studies revealed three overarching critiques of the United Nations. The first is that the very countries whose job it is to intervene in times of conflict are the ones benefiting from conflict. Second is that the United Nations’ definition of sovereignty is problematic because it forces them to respect the “sovereignty” of oppressive regimes while ignoring the sovereignty of the people. Third, the United Nations is an organization that operates through weaponized incompetence as a form of coloniality and anti-Blackness. As a result of these findings, I suggest that African nations should consider withdrawing from the United Nations and work to strengthen their own regional multi-lateral bodies into more effective and equitable alternatives. Such a move to strengthen regional leadership would ensure that African problems receive African solutions.