Michael Gerson
12/10/2010

The new independence of South Sudan is a diplomatic success worth celebrating. After the Obama administration offered the Khartoum regime (the Muslim north of Sudan) a series of incentives called “the road map,” the regime agreed to allow southern Sudan to “go quietly.” The bipartisan nature of this pending diplomatic solution is worth noting: the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was begun in 2005 under the Bush administration, and helped create a unified national government in Sudan and guaranteed an “independence referendum” for south Sudan in 2011. That referendum will be voted on this January 9, with many southern Sudanese who now live in Khartoum returning to their home region to vote. Of course there will be challenges as the newly independent South Sudan becomes a nation, but this successful venture shows how government officials can do a great deal of good in the world.

Gerson is a nationally syndicated columnist who appears twice weekly in the Washington Post.

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Michael Gerson
11/25/2009

Robert Mugabe has made the people of Zimbabwe destitute and dependent. Magodonga Mahlangu and Jennifer Williams, leaders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise and recent recipients of the John F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, have lead and engaged in non-violent protests against social injustice. Protesters are organized via word of mouth so that their communications can not be traced, and they are prepared for the arrests and beatings that result from their activism. Tens of thousands of women are committed to holding the government accountable and rising above the “stink” surrounding them (sometimes quite literally, as sewage systems fail and the government does nothing). With such fearlessness among Zimbabwean women, notes Gerson, it is Mugabe who should fear.

Gerson writes about politics, global health and development, religion, and foreign policy.

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• Wars over the control of natural resources
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