Alex de Waal
Encyclopedia
Alexander William Lowndes de Waal (22 February 1963) is a British
writer and researcher on Africa
n issues. He was a fellow of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
at Harvard University
, as well as program director at the Social Science Research Council
on AIDS
in New York City
. De Waal is currently director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
. He is also a co-director of Justice Africa
, London.
His father is Rev.d Dr Victor de Waal, Dean of Canterbury from 1976 to 1986 and his brother Edmund de Waal
is a ceramic artist.
De Waal was educated at The King's School, Canterbury
and Corpus Christi College, Oxford
, where he read Psychology with Philosophy. He received a D.Phil. in social anthropology
at Nuffield College, Oxford
for his thesis on the 1984-5 Darfur famine in Sudan
. The next year he joined the Africa division of Human Rights Watch
, only to resign in December 1992 in protest for HRW's support for the American military involvement in Somalia. He was the first chairman of the Mines Advisory Group
at the beginning of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
. From 1997 to 2001, he focused on avenues to peaceful resolution of the Second Sudanese Civil War
. In 2001, he returned to his work on health in Africa, writing on the intersection of HIV
/AIDS
, poverty
and drought
. In 2004, he returned to his doctoral thesis topic of Darfur
as the conflict there
worsened. During 2005 and 2006, de Waal was seconded to the African Union
mediation team for Darfur. In 2008 he became well-known as a critic of the International Criminal Court's decision to seek an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al Bashir.
Today he is considered as one of the foremost experts on Sudan and Darfur in particular.
He is a editor of the African Arguments book series published by Zed Books
with Richard Dowden
, Director of the Royal African Society. de Waal also writes and published regular commentary on contemporary Sudan through his African Arguments blog Making Sense of Sudan
Articles
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
writer and researcher on Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n issues. He was a fellow of the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative
The Harvard Humanitarian Initiative is an interfaculty Harvard University initiative dedicated to advancing research, practice, and policy in the field of humanitarian assistance...
at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, as well as program director at the Social Science Research Council
Social Science Research Council
The Social Science Research Council is a U.S.-based independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing research in the social sciences and related disciplines...
on AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. De Waal is currently director of the World Peace Foundation at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
. He is also a co-director of Justice Africa
Justice Africa
Justice Africa is a London-based non-profit organization founded in 1999 that carries out research and advocacy on various issues relating to Africa. It has three focus areas: Sudan, peace and security, and HIV/AIDS. Justice Africa lists three co-directors: Alex de Waal, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and...
, London.
His father is Rev.d Dr Victor de Waal, Dean of Canterbury from 1976 to 1986 and his brother Edmund de Waal
Edmund de Waal
Edmund Arthur Lowndes de Waal OBE is a British ceramic artist, and author of The Hare with Amber Eyes . He has worked as a curator, lecturer, art critic and art historian and is a Professor of Ceramics at the University of Westminster. He has received several awards and honours for his...
is a ceramic artist.
De Waal was educated at The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School, Canterbury
The King's School is a British co-educational independent school for both day and boarding pupils in the historic English cathedral city of Canterbury in Kent. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference and the Eton Group....
and Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
, where he read Psychology with Philosophy. He received a D.Phil. in social anthropology
Social anthropology
Social Anthropology is one of the four or five branches of anthropology that studies how contemporary human beings behave in social groups. Practitioners of social anthropology investigate, often through long-term, intensive field studies , the social organization of a particular person: customs,...
at Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...
for his thesis on the 1984-5 Darfur famine in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
. The next year he joined the Africa division of Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, only to resign in December 1992 in protest for HRW's support for the American military involvement in Somalia. He was the first chairman of the Mines Advisory Group
Mines Advisory Group
The Mines Advisory Group is a Non-Governmental Organisation , which assists people affected by landmines, unexploded ordnance and SALW ....
at the beginning of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines
International Campaign to Ban Landmines
The International Campaign to Ban Landmines is a coalition of non-governmental organizations working for a world free of anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions, where mine and cluster munitions survivors see their rights respected and can lead fulfilling lives.The coalition was formed in...
. From 1997 to 2001, he focused on avenues to peaceful resolution of the Second Sudanese Civil War
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War started in 1983, although it was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile by the end of the 1980s....
. In 2001, he returned to his work on health in Africa, writing on the intersection of HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
and drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
. In 2004, he returned to his doctoral thesis topic of Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
as the conflict there
Darfur conflict
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
worsened. During 2005 and 2006, de Waal was seconded to the African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
mediation team for Darfur. In 2008 he became well-known as a critic of the International Criminal Court's decision to seek an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al Bashir.
Today he is considered as one of the foremost experts on Sudan and Darfur in particular.
He is a editor of the African Arguments book series published by Zed Books
Zed Books
Zed Books is an independent non-fiction book publishing company based in London.Founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press, Zed publishes academic books covering areas such as politics, economics, gender studies, development studies, and the environment....
with Richard Dowden
Richard Dowden
Richard Dowden is a British journalist who has specialised in African issues. Since 1975, he has worked for several British media and for the past eight years he has been the Executive Director of the Royal African Society...
, Director of the Royal African Society. de Waal also writes and published regular commentary on contemporary Sudan through his African Arguments blog Making Sense of Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
Published works
Books- Famine that Kills : Darfur, Sudan, Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1989, ISBN 0-19-827749-0 (Revised edition, 2005, ISBN 0-19-518163-8)
- War in Sudan: An Analysis of Conflict, London : Peace in Sudan Group, 1990
- Evil days : thirty years of war and famine in Ethiopia, New York: Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, 1991, ISBN 1-56432-038-3 - Facing Genocide: The Nuba of Sudan, London: African Rights, July 1995, ISBN 1-899477-04-7
- Famine crimes : politics & the disaster relief industry in Africa, London : African Rights & the International African Institute, 1997, ISBN 0-253-21158-1
- Who fights? who cares?: war and humanitarian action in Africa, Editor, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2000, ISBN 0-86543-864-1
- The Phoenix State: Civil Society and the Future of Sudan, Editor with A.H. Abdel Salam, 2001, ISBN 1-56902-143-0
- Demilitarizing the mind: African agendas for peace and security, Editor, Trenton, NJ & Asmara, Eritrea : Africa World Press, 2002, ISBN 0-86543-988-5
- Young Africa: realising the rights of children and youth, Editor with Nicolas Argenti, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2002, ISBN 0-86543-842-0
- When peace comes: civil society and development in Sudan, Editor with Yoanes Ajawin, Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 2002, ISBN 1-56902-164-3
- Islamism and its enemies in the Horn of Africa, Editor, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-253-21679-6
- Darfur : a short history of a long war, With Julie Flint, New York : Zed Books, 2005, ISBN 1-84277-697-5
- AIDS and power : Why there is no political crisis—yet, New York : Zed Books, 2006, ISBN 1-84277-707-6
- War in Darfur and the search for peace (edited), Cambridge : Harvard University Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-674-02367-3
Articles
- Transcript of Seminar Eight - Discussion with Alex de Waal, Bard CollegeBard CollegeBard College, founded in 1860 as "St. Stephen's College", is a small four-year liberal arts college located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York.-Location:...
, 11 March 2000 - "'New Variant Famine': AIDS and Food Crisis in Southern Africa," The Lancet, 11 October 2003, http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/cgsd/documents/de_waal_lancetarticle.pdf.
- "Counter-Insurgency on the Cheap", London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 5 August 2004 - "Who are the Darfurians? Arab and African Identities, Violence and External Engagement", SSRC and GEI, Harvard, Dec 10, 2004
- "Review of Gerard Prunier, Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide, Hurst and Co.", The Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, 8 August 2005 - "Chasing Ghosts: Alex de Waal on the rise and fall of militant Islam in the Horn of Africa", London Review of Books, 18 August 2005
- "Sudan's chance", ProspectProspect (magazine)Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
, August 2005 - "Personal View on Darfur Peace Talks", United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
, 4 May 2006 - An Imperfect Storm: Narratives of Calamity in a Liberal-Technocratic Age Jun 11, 2006
- "Darfur’s fragile peace", opendemocracy.net, 5 July 2006
- "The Book Was Closed Too Soon on Peace in Darfur, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 29 September 2006 - "´I will not sign´", London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 30 November 2006 - "The Wars of Sudan", The NationThe NationThe Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, March 1, 2007 - "No Such Thing as Humanitarian Intervention", Harvard International ReviewHarvard International ReviewThe Harvard International Review is a quarterly journal of international relations published by the Harvard International Relations Council...
, March 21, 2007
External links
- SSRC biography
- Justice Africa
- Making Sense of Sudan Alex de Waal's blog on Sudan, on the Social Science Research Council website