Africa's Thirty Years' War: Chad-libya-the Sudan, 1963-1993

Africa’s Thirty Years’ War began in the early 1960s, when a civil war in Chad pitted the Muslim north and center against the political domination of African Christian politicians from southern Chad. During their insurgency, the Muslim revolutionaries found a safe haven in the Sudan, whose governments provided support hoping to overthrow the Tombalbaye government in Chad. Libya entered the fray in 1969 when Qadaffi claimed the Aozou strip of northern Chad that was reputably rich in uranium deposits.Throughout the 1970s and the 1980s the conflict among Chad, Libya, and the Sudan engaged the interests of France, the U.S., the Organization of African Unity, and the United Nations. It drained the resources of these African states and deflated their diminutive treasuries. Their efforts to project political and military power beyond existing boundaries created political confusion, fostered tribal warfare, and exacerbated mistrust on their volatile frontiers. In Africa’s Thirty Years’ War: Chad, Libya, and the Sudan, 1963–1993, Burr and Collins document this tragedy and analyze its numerous causes. They argue that Chad has been a pawn in regional and international politics. Drawing on a vast array of sources, from mainstream media to radio transcripts to obscure newspapers and fly sheets, the authors provide a vivid portrait of a modern tragedy unknown to most readers.