Perhaps because of these discussions, I was pointed toward an article on “Rethinking Darfur” by Marc Gustafson, which was written up in a news story here. From the publicity email:

This paper is intended to challenge the conventional wisdom about the causes and levels of violence in Darfur during the conflict there. Gustafson, a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, draws on historical analysis, explores mortality surveys, and dissects six years of American budgetary allocations in Sudan, contending that while the war in Darfur has had horrific results, it has been mischaracterized persistently in terms of the scale and causes of the conflict. Gustafson argues that these mischaracterizations had negative effects on elite and public understanding of the conflict, and consequently had a rather dubious effect on policy choices.

I don’t have time to look at this and so offer no comment one way or the other, but I thought it might be of interest to some of you, so I’m posting it here.