The Hill News

How could U.S. policy toward South Sudan over the last decade be so successful, and its policy toward Sudan be such an abject failure?  The answer to that question partially holds the fate of millions of Sudanese who remain trapped in a state at war with its own people on four fronts and ruthlessly repressing all forms of unarmed opposition.

Over the last three presidential administrations, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have worked closely together to demand that Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama craft policies that supported the aspirations of the people of South Sudan.  This led to the isolation of the Khartoum regime in the mid to late 1990s, the securing of a peace deal in 2005 between North and South Sudan, and the successful referendum and independence of South Sudan earlier this year.  Throughout this time, Congress often was far out front of each of the three administrations, pressing for more active engagement by the Executive Branch and k! eeping its eye on the strategic prize: the self-determination referendum for the South.

It worked.

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