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Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict, And Catastrophe Hardcover – July 1, 1999
by
Donald Petterson
(Author)
| Donald Petterson (Author) Find all the books, read about the author, and more. See search results for this author |
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Sudan, governed by an Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship, has come into conflict with the United States and other countries not because of its religious orientation but because of its record of human rights abuses and support for terrorism. The country has captured the attention of many Americans, some of whom feel that something must be done to combat religious persecution throughout the world and others who are appalled that almost two million civilians have died as a consequence of Sudan's civil war. As the last American ambassador to complete an assignment based in Sudan, Donald Petterson provides unique insights into how it has become what it is today.The central focus of Inside Sudan is on Petterson's experiences dealing with a hostile government. Petterson tells of what occurred after Sudanese security forces executed four Sudanese employees of the US government in the southern city of Juba. He relates what happened to Americans in Khartoum after Washington put Sudan on the list state sponsors of terrorism. He describes what he saw on his many trips into war-devastated southern Sudan.These unique observations, and Petterson's account of his return to Sudan in late 1997 to look for openings to improve US-Sudan relations, provide a timely review of our relationship with a country increasingly regarded by Washington as beyond the pale.
- Print length224 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBasic Books
- Publication dateJuly 1, 1999
- Dimensions6 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches
- ISBN-100813336570
- ISBN-13978-0813336572
- Lexile measure1290L
Editorial Reviews
Review
Bringing a veteran diplomat's perspective, Inside Sudan ... is a welcome addition to the limited number of publications on 20th-century Sudan. -- The New York Times Book Review, Chris Tomlinson
About the Author
In thirty-five years with the Foreign Service, Donald Petterson has served as U.S. ambassador to Sudan, Somalia, and Tanzania. After his retirement in 1995, he was called back into the Foreign Service to take over the US embassy in Liberia. His previous books include Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict, and Catastrophe . He lives in New Hampshire.
Product details
- Publisher : Basic Books; 2nd edition (July 1, 1999)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 224 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0813336570
- ISBN-13 : 978-0813336572
- Lexile measure : 1290L
- Item Weight : 16 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.75 x 9.75 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #6,600,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #437 in Sudan History
- #7,239 in Human Rights Law (Books)
- #7,545 in Foreign & International Law
- Customer Reviews:
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Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2010
Verified Purchase
Donald Petterson was ambassador to Sudan in the years between 1992 and 1995. His account of his frustrations in negotiating for better relations with Omar al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi gives a personal witness to the problems of radical Islamism that afflict Sudan's Government. He also shows how southern leaders John Garang and Riek Machar stubbornly reject the north. In short - those who read this should be very thankful for the separation of church and state. Inserting religion into the state level didn't work for Christianity - American's Founding Father's figured that out - and it will not work for Islam either. Petterson, though writing in a diplomatic fashion throughout, candidly admits that fundamentalism (of any type) in government is a recipe for bad politics. Read this book, and it will help you appreciate that. It will also give you some vivid background for the conflict in Sudan. It is a very readable book, but it written before the Darfur conflict blew up, so in that sense is a bit dated. The insights it has into the Sudan are not, however.
Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2004
Verified Purchase
The title of this book, Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict and Catastrophe, implies that the work will addressteh history of the conflict in the sudan as well as some discussion of the workings of Islam within the country's politics. However, this is not the case. The author, a former ambassodor to the Sudan, seems content to merely catalogue the meetings he had with Sudanese officials. Thus the book only addresses the time form 1992-95. Furthermore, the writing reads like a travel log and is rather uninteresting. The book claism to be an acoount of US-Sudanese relations, but even in this area it falls short. There is very little critical analysis and the work is littered with unimportant personal imformation. The book does give a look at life in a Us Embassy but this hardly makes up for its other shortcomings.
One good aspect of the work is Petterson's criticism of the media. For far too long has this atrocity been largely ignored by such agencies as CNN. Likewise, he also gives the reader some insight into the workings of Sudanese NGO's whose primary objective is not to relieve suffereing but rather to spread Islamic fundamentalism. Overall there are better books on the Sudan.
One good aspect of the work is Petterson's criticism of the media. For far too long has this atrocity been largely ignored by such agencies as CNN. Likewise, he also gives the reader some insight into the workings of Sudanese NGO's whose primary objective is not to relieve suffereing but rather to spread Islamic fundamentalism. Overall there are better books on the Sudan.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2005
Donald Petterson, former U.S.Ambassador to Sudan, has written an unflinching account of modern Sudan. It is the thoroughly human story of a man and his family living and working in Khartoum in the 1990's, the hey-day of Islamic terrorism and fundamentalist belief. Petterson, a veteran Foreign Service Officer in Africa describes the day-to-day events in the abysmally hot and dusty,strife-ridden capital of Khartoum. An exciting place for any FSO, Khartoum was above all else a very dangerous city, as Petterson points out. Filled with Islamic radicals, the hatred for all things Western was very evident to this American. While the Author never treads strongly into the deep historical factors surrounding Sudan's cultural probems today, INSIDE SUDAN: POLITICAL ISLAM, CONFLICT, AND CATASTROPHE neveretheless is an excellent read for everyone wishing an up-front account of what it feels like to be in a land where one is always on the cusp of revolution. The book grips the reader personally and emotionally and makes the problems of Sudan all the more real. Readers may also wish to turn to my new book, JIHAD: THE MAHDI REBELLION IN THE SUDAN. I have encapsulated one brief period of Sudanese history - the Mahdi Rebellion of 1881-1885. I hope to show the effects of Western Imperialism upon both Sudanese nationalism and culture.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2002
"Inside Sudan" should be a great book. Donald Petterson served as U.S. Ambassador to Sudan from 1992 to 1995, and met with all the major political figures of the country (Gurang, Turabi, Bashir, Taha, Machar, etc.). In addition, he has extensive experience in Africa and traveled widely in the Sudan during his three-year tenure. Petterson also writes clearly. For all these reasons, this should be a great book.
But it's plainly not. Instead, "Inside Sudan" is a very dull and narrowly-focused volume. Unless you have a particular interest in the muted frustrations of Donald Petterson, when he served as U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, or you just like any book about the foreign service, you will probably find little to interest you here.
Examples of this are the lifeless descriptions Petterson gives of his meetings with important Sudanese officials. There's a formula to nearly all of them: Petterson usually starts out by saying the U.S./Sudan relationship will not improve until some important issues (slavery, torture, human rights violations, terrorism, etc.) are addressed by Sudan; the Sudanese official -- whoever Petterson happens to be meeting with at the time -- usually gets upset when he hears this and responds with either 1) there are no problems in Sudan, or 2) the U.S. has the same problems; the next day, the Sudanese press vilifies Petterson; finally, tempers cool and another meeting takes place where the same dynamic essentially repeats itself.
While this may be a fair description by Petterson of what actually happened during his meetings with Sudanese officials, it's not a basis for a book. There's no human element or color in his descriptions. It's difficult for the reader to tell one official apart from another or one meeting apart from another. They all just blend in together. Petterson spent a good deal of time with Turabi and Bashir, and he writes about several meetings he had with these two major figures. Yet after reading his book, these two very important men are still like stick figures in my mind, with little character or personality.
"Inside Sudan" is also weak on the history of the country and on the background of its current civil war. Most of the book focuses on just the three years Petterson was there. I realize the Ambassador is not a historian, but surely as a man who has spent a good deal of time in the Sudan, and read much to prepare for his job, he has strong opinions on the way history has shaped current events in that country. Doesn't he owe it to his readers to write about them? (The Ambassador does give a short introduction on the Sudan, but it's woefully inadequate.)
When I began "Inside Sudan", I thought Petterson's three decades of experience in sub-Saharan Africa would give him a fresh perspective on Sudan's relationships with its southern neighbors. Even though Petterson's previous experience was not in the countries that bordered Sudan, I reasoned that his time spent in Africa should still give him good knowledge about the ties between Sudan and places like Uganda, Central African Republic, Zaire, etc. But if it did, it's not evident here, as he only briefly discusses them.
A good book should be more than a series of failed meetings and tours around the country. It ought to tell you something interesting or important. This book fails that basic test.
But it's plainly not. Instead, "Inside Sudan" is a very dull and narrowly-focused volume. Unless you have a particular interest in the muted frustrations of Donald Petterson, when he served as U.S. Ambassador to Sudan, or you just like any book about the foreign service, you will probably find little to interest you here.
Examples of this are the lifeless descriptions Petterson gives of his meetings with important Sudanese officials. There's a formula to nearly all of them: Petterson usually starts out by saying the U.S./Sudan relationship will not improve until some important issues (slavery, torture, human rights violations, terrorism, etc.) are addressed by Sudan; the Sudanese official -- whoever Petterson happens to be meeting with at the time -- usually gets upset when he hears this and responds with either 1) there are no problems in Sudan, or 2) the U.S. has the same problems; the next day, the Sudanese press vilifies Petterson; finally, tempers cool and another meeting takes place where the same dynamic essentially repeats itself.
While this may be a fair description by Petterson of what actually happened during his meetings with Sudanese officials, it's not a basis for a book. There's no human element or color in his descriptions. It's difficult for the reader to tell one official apart from another or one meeting apart from another. They all just blend in together. Petterson spent a good deal of time with Turabi and Bashir, and he writes about several meetings he had with these two major figures. Yet after reading his book, these two very important men are still like stick figures in my mind, with little character or personality.
"Inside Sudan" is also weak on the history of the country and on the background of its current civil war. Most of the book focuses on just the three years Petterson was there. I realize the Ambassador is not a historian, but surely as a man who has spent a good deal of time in the Sudan, and read much to prepare for his job, he has strong opinions on the way history has shaped current events in that country. Doesn't he owe it to his readers to write about them? (The Ambassador does give a short introduction on the Sudan, but it's woefully inadequate.)
When I began "Inside Sudan", I thought Petterson's three decades of experience in sub-Saharan Africa would give him a fresh perspective on Sudan's relationships with its southern neighbors. Even though Petterson's previous experience was not in the countries that bordered Sudan, I reasoned that his time spent in Africa should still give him good knowledge about the ties between Sudan and places like Uganda, Central African Republic, Zaire, etc. But if it did, it's not evident here, as he only briefly discusses them.
A good book should be more than a series of failed meetings and tours around the country. It ought to tell you something interesting or important. This book fails that basic test.
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