Commentary
The crisis in Chad
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7557950 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Massey (0000-0003-0550-0613, Coventry University), Roy May (Coventry University) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 105 |
| Issue | 420 |
| Pages | 443-449 |
| Publication date | 2006-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | African Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0001-9909 • E-ISSN: 1468-2621 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/afraf/adl007 |
| OpenAlex | W1991338545 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
Chad Risks Regressing to outright civil war. Although conflict has been a regular feature since independence, the fifteen years of President Idriss Déby’s rule have been relatively stable by comparison with past eras. However, the current mixture of internal volatility and factionalism together with intervention by external actors, regional and international, recalls the political climate that led to full-scale civil war between 1979 and 1982. Déby has faced threats before, but his tenure has never looked more precarious. On 3 May, a presidential election went ahead despite the latest, and most determined, invasion attempt by dissident forces based in Sudan’s Darfur province and supported by the Sudanese government. Whilst decisively repulsed by the Chadian army with targeted support from the French garrison stationed in the country, the rebels have not been defeated and are still in a position to destabilize the fragile Déby regime. Chad is a society that tends towards fragmentation, and its political space reflects this. Beyond a crude dichotomy between the Christian/animist south and Muslim north, there exist over a hundred language groups, themselves split into multiple clans and sub-clans. President Déby is a member of the Zaghawa people, a collection of clans and sub-clans that live in an arc across northern and eastern Chad and across the border in Sudan, notably in Darfur province. Representing just two percent of the population, the Zaghawa have profited from presidential patronage and dominate all ranks of the armed forces and government. Their domination has antagonized the country’s other ethnic groups yet the opposition has been unable to unite or prevent Déby from securing a third presidential term. Déby’s support even among his own people, however, is far from secure. Many Zaghawa, including members of the armed forces and some members of his extended family, are infuriated by his management of southern Chad’s Doba oilfield, the proceeds of which they suspect he will arrogate for the benefit of his immediate family. The perception of fin de regime has also been exacerbated by the country’s endemic poverty with wages unpaid for months and defunct social services. Corruption — Chad ranks bottom of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index — and mismanagement have extinguished hopes that the new-found oil wealth might raise living standards for the majority.
Political science · Global Energy Security and Policy · International Development and Aid · Natural Resources and Economic Development
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,53 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2024 (16) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |