The Atlantic Council’s Michael S. Ansari Africa Center hosted a major policy presentation on US-Sudan relations by Ambassador Princeton N. Lyman, United States special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan.
As the senior US advisor on north-south negotiations and, after March 2011, special envoy for Sudan, Ambassador Lyman led the US effort to support the negotiations between Khartoum and Juba that facilitated the largely peaceful emergence of an independent South Sudan as Africa’s fifty-fourth sovereign state in July 2011 (his title was changed to reflect South Sudan’s distinct independent status in January 2012).
In his prepared remarks, Ambassador Lyman reviewed the history of America’s troubled relations with Sudan, including the differences over Darfur, the state of negotiations with South Sudan, and the recent conflicts on Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, as well as the US designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism back in 1993. Despite these differences, Ambassador Lyman argued that the United States seeks to have a normal, productive relationship with Sudan and laid out what the steps would be achieve that objective.
Ambassador Lyman’s presentation was followed by a lively discussion moderated by Ansari Center Director J. Peter Pham.
PRESS COVERAGE
- US Wants to Mend Ties to Sudan– Ashish Kumar Sen, Washington Times
- Diplomatic Rows Complicate Sudan Peace – UPI
- Sudan: U.S. Diplomat Renews Calls to Resume Dialogue With Sudan – Sudan Tribune