Sudan continues to refuse a UN peacekeeping force in Darfur. As pressure to act mounts, the international community faces a question: Does its “responsibility to protect” trump Sudan’s national sovereignty?

A small African Union force has proven ineffective in the latest surge of violence against humanitarian workers and civilians in Sudan's Darfur region. A showdown is looming at the United Nations, where there are plans to send 17,000 peacekeepers.

An impotent UN Security Council and an ineffective African Union peacekeeping force have failed to alleviate the misery in Sudan's western Darfur region, where over a hundred thousand have been killed and millions of refugees are threatening security across the region.

Marathon negotiations driven by British and American diplomats have produced a tentative agreement between the Sudanese government and the leading rebel faction, though leaders signed the document "with reservations."

In a constant state of near-drought and desperately poor in good times, the desert republic of Chad is heading toward a fateful election early next month as Darfur's hungry refugees, a bloody rebel army, and the World Bank all demand their due.

The three-year conflict in Darfur continues as the United Nations prepares to send a peacekeeping mission to replace the ineffectual African Union (AU) presence in Sudan. Human rights advocates say the Darfur situation highlights the international community's inability to protect civilians when their governments are unable or unwilling to help.

The United Nations announced it will send a peacekeeping force to Darfur to quell the ongoing violence. But can the UN succeed where the African Union has not?

Sudan's bid to chair this year's African Union Summit has brought fierce criticism from opponents who say Khartoum's human rights record would damage the organization's efforts at reform. Sudan continues to fight a bloody civil war and the government faces accusations of human rights abuse in its Darfur region.

Jendayi Frazer, CFR's adjunct senior fellow for Africa Studies, discusses preventing conflict between Sudan and South Sudan.

Following their return from South Sudan with the Enough Project, George Clooney and John Prendergast assess the in-country situation in the year since southern Sudan's independence referendum, with Andudu Adam Elnail, Anglican bishop of Kadugli, Sudan, and Omer Ismail, Darfur activist and senior adviser at the Enough Project.

USAID's Katherine Almquist and CFR's Payton L. Knopf discuss the political implications of Southern Sudan's nearly unanimous vote to secede from the North, as part of the CFR's Academic Conference Call series.

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Princeton N. Lyman, U.S. senior adviser for North-South negotiations at the U.S. Department of State, discusses Southern Sudan's unanimous vote to secede from the North, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call series.

Learn more about CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.

Religious leaders from Sudan discuss the upcoming referendum, as well as ways that the international community can strengthen human rights in Southern Sudan.

Upon their return from Sudan, George Clooney and John Prendergast assess the in-country situation in advance of southern Sudan's independence referendum this January.

Listen to Gloria E. White-Hammond, cofounder of My Sister's Keeper and copastor of Bethel AME Church in Boston, discuss the role that faith-based organizations are playing in Africa, with a focus on their efforts in Darfur, as part of CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Conference Call Series.

Learn more about CFR's Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative.

Experts say instability in south Sudan should be looked at in tandem with the crisis in Darfur, and some call for addressing Sudan's problems in a more unified way to help forestall an escalation of violence.

Despite its recent willingness to combat terrorism, Sudan is still considered a state sponsor because of its ties to Hamas, the Iraqi insurgency, and violence in Darfur.

An increasingly chaotic political situation in Darfur may require a more inclusive round of negotiations than currently envisioned.

While attention is focused on deploying UN peacekeepers to Darfur, most experts say a negotiated peace agreement remains the only way to settle the crisis.