Globalised Rebellion: The Darfur insurgents and the world

The paper examines the 'globalisation' of the Darfur rebellion, arguing that while international attention provided rebels with leverage and deterred mass violence, it also incentivised uncompromising political posturing and fostered internal fragmentation by decoupling leadership from local legitimacy.

• Darfur rebels actively projected their cause globally through four primary mechanisms: inviting foreign journalists to 'liberated areas', leveraging diaspora networks for funding and political connections, collaborating with Western advocacy groups, and adapting their discourse to align with Western concepts like genocide and federalism.
• The internationalisation of the conflict created a 'market for transnational support' that rewarded rebel leaders who adopted maximalist and uncompromising positions, often at the expense of developing a feasible political vision for Darfur.
• International attention and the courting of insurgents by global actors lowered the barriers to entry for new rebel groups, leading to excessive fragmentation and factionalisation because leadership became dependent on international connections rather than grassroots support.
• The focus on international diplomacy and 'hotel' negotiations drew rebel leaders away from their foot soldiers and the civilian population, preventing the establishment of a 'guerrilla government' or civilian administration in controlled areas.
• Internationalisation likely served as a deterrent against extreme mass violence; the global spotlight made mass atrocities more costly for the Sudanese government and created reputational risks for rebels, encouraging them to adopt measures like banning child soldiers.
• The framing of the conflict as a genocide, while successful in generating global awareness, may have crowded out constructive political dialogue by implying the violence was a 'projection of evil' rather than a complex social process requiring a negotiated settlement.

APA

JUMBERT, M. G., & LANZ, D. (n.d.). Globalised Rebellion: The Darfur insurgents and the world. Peace Research Institute Oslo. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1487c8f0-1678-44c1-85c7-5d465638124b/Globalised Rebellion The Darfur insurgents and the world.pdf?inline=true

Chicago

JUMBERT, MARIA GABRIELSEN, and DAVID LANZ. Globalised Rebellion: The Darfur insurgents and the world. Peace Research Institute Oslo, n.d. https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1487c8f0-1678-44c1-85c7-5d465638124b/Globalised Rebellion The Darfur insurgents and the world.pdf?inline=true.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=JUMBERT |first1=MARIA GABRIELSEN |last2=LANZ |first2=DAVID |title=Globalised Rebellion: The Darfur insurgents and the world |publisher=Peace Research Institute Oslo |url=https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1487c8f0-1678-44c1-85c7-5d465638124b/Globalised Rebellion The Darfur insurgents and the world.pdf?inline=true |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jumbertndglobalised, author = {JUMBERT, MARIA GABRIELSEN and LANZ, DAVID}, title = {{Globalised Rebellion: The Darfur insurgents and the world}}, institution = {Peace Research Institute Oslo}, url = {https://cdn.cloud.prio.org/files/1487c8f0-1678-44c1-85c7-5d465638124b/Globalised Rebellion The Darfur insurgents and the world.pdf?inline=true}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }