Collapse Of A Country: A Diplomat's Memoir Of South Sudan
by Nicholas Coghlan /
2017 / English / EPUB
6.7 MB Download
The first Canadian diplomat to be posted to war-torn Sudan,
Nicholas Coghlan was a natural choice to lead Canada’s
representation in the new Republic of South Sudan soon after the
country was founded in 2011. In late 2013, Coghlan and his wife
Jenny were in the capital, Juba, when it erupted in gunfire and
civil war pitted one half of the army against the other,
Vice-President Machar against President Kiir, and the Nuer tribe
against the Dinka. This action-focused narrative, grounded by
accounts of meetings with key leaders and travels throughout the
dangerous, impoverished hinterland of South Sudan, explains what
happened in December 2013 and why. In harrowing terms, Collapse
of a Country describes the ebb and flow of the war and the
humanitarian tragedy that followed, the Coghlans’ scramble to
evacuate South-Sudanese Canadians from Juba, and the well-meant
but often ill-conceived attempts of the international community
to mitigate the misery and bring peace back to a land that has
rarely known it. Coghlan’s stark narrative serves as a lesson to
politicians, diplomats, aid workers, and practitioners on the
breakdown of governance and relationships between ethnic groups,
and the often decisive role of international development
representatives. Fast-paced and poignant, Collapse of a Country
gives an insider’s glimpse into the chaos, violence, and ethnic
conflicts that emerged out of a civil war that has been largely
ignored by the West.
The first Canadian diplomat to be posted to war-torn Sudan,
Nicholas Coghlan was a natural choice to lead Canada’s
representation in the new Republic of South Sudan soon after the
country was founded in 2011. In late 2013, Coghlan and his wife
Jenny were in the capital, Juba, when it erupted in gunfire and
civil war pitted one half of the army against the other,
Vice-President Machar against President Kiir, and the Nuer tribe
against the Dinka. This action-focused narrative, grounded by
accounts of meetings with key leaders and travels throughout the
dangerous, impoverished hinterland of South Sudan, explains what
happened in December 2013 and why. In harrowing terms, Collapse
of a Country describes the ebb and flow of the war and the
humanitarian tragedy that followed, the Coghlans’ scramble to
evacuate South-Sudanese Canadians from Juba, and the well-meant
but often ill-conceived attempts of the international community
to mitigate the misery and bring peace back to a land that has
rarely known it. Coghlan’s stark narrative serves as a lesson to
politicians, diplomats, aid workers, and practitioners on the
breakdown of governance and relationships between ethnic groups,
and the often decisive role of international development
representatives. Fast-paced and poignant, Collapse of a Country
gives an insider’s glimpse into the chaos, violence, and ethnic
conflicts that emerged out of a civil war that has been largely
ignored by the West.