The African Studies Initiative hosted U.S. Ambassador Designate Larry André Tuesday evening for a lecture about recent conflict in South Sudan.
André’s talk focused on the history of South Sudan — it became an independent nation in 2011 and has recently faced a series of ethnic conflicts. He addressed how the actions of its neighboring nations and the United States have impacted South Sudan, and discussed possible actions he believed South Sudan could take to resolve the conflict.
“A settlement needs to be on a much larger basis than just leaders,” André said.
Instead, André said, there needs to be a normalization of power between leaders to reach a stable resolution.
André also spoke to the future of South Sudan’s economy. He said the nation has never had much infrastructure, but he said he believes it has potential to improve and grow economically.
“South Sudan has an opportunity to be incredibly rich,” André said.
André recently returned from South Sudan after a month-long stint as active ambassador for the nation.
“[The talk] was helpful for trying to understand the interactions the [United States] has with these African nations,” said ASI co-chair Edel Tessema, a third-year College student .
Third-year College student Elshaday Abraham, who is studying foreign affairs and considering a minor in African Studies, said her classes focus primarily on Northern Africa, and that she came to the lecture hoping to expand her knowledge about East Africa.
“The main thing that I took away from this is that it is more complex than we see,” Abraham said. “It shouldn’t be oversimplified.”
Tessema said there are many University students with a similar lack of knowledge about East Africa, and she said she hopes presentations like this will help educate students about the region.
“I feel like if you go to an institution like this … it’s important for people to know about other cultures,” Tessema said. “We were very pleased with how many people came out tonight.”
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