Irit Back | Tel Aviv University (original) (raw)

Books by Irit Back

Moreshet; Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisemitism , 2021

Back, Irit. “From Biafra to Darfur.” Moreshet; Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisem... more Back, Irit. “From Biafra to Darfur.” Moreshet; Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisemitism 18 (2021): 216–240. Print.

From Sudan to South Sudan IGAD and the Role of Regional Mediation in Africa, 2020

Irit Back’s book From Sudan to South Sudan: IGAD and the Role of Regional Mediation in Africa com... more Irit Back’s book From Sudan to South Sudan: IGAD and the Role of Regional Mediation in Africa comprehensively analyses the full achievements, shortcomings, and implications of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) mediation efforts in Sudan and South Sudan. IGAD’s active mediation was a primary force behind the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the south and the north that eventually resulted in South Sudan’s declaration of independence in 2011. The euphoria of this historic achievement was, however, almost immediately overshadowed by internal strife, which has, since 2013, escalated to a large-scale conflict in the new-born nation that demanded IGAD’s renewed mediation efforts.

The book offers readers new insights and perspectives to apply when seeking to develop a more balanced understanding of Africa’s contemporary conflicts and the efforts to resolve them. More specifically, the book will also help readers to better comprehend the potential role of regional mediation in East Africa, a region with a turbulent history in the post-Cold War era.

In response to the civil war in Darfur, the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) force was established... more In response to the civil war in Darfur, the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS) force was established in May 2004, and by June its first contingents were on the ground. For the first time since the founding of the African Union, a resolution about direct intervention in a conflict that involved wide-ranging abuse of human rights was accepted on a pan-continental level. Here, Irit Back looks at the changes in attitudes towards the ever-problematic tension between the concepts of humanitarian intervention and state sovereignty, using the example of the African Union s intervention in Darfur to illustrate this unique pan-continental approach to conflict resolution and peace-keeping. Additionally, Back analyses the challenges which international task forces, including AMIS and its successor the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), have faced ever since. Including an examination of the situation in the wake of the declaration of independence of South Sudan in 2011, this book offers a unique perspective on the problem of internationally organised intervention in local conflicts."

Papers by Irit Back

Journal of the Middle East and Africa, Jun 3, 2024

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional organization with institutional e... more Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional organization with institutional experience in active conflict mediation, accumulated over many years. The emerging conflict in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray – and specifically the fact that the conflict involved Ethiopia, considered to be one of the most significant powers in East Africa and a prominent member of IGAD – posed new challenges to the organization’s mediation efforts. As such, it is important to ask what the role of regional mediation is, or how effective can such mediation be when a significant regional power is involved in an intrastate conflict with major potential regional implications. This article addresses this question considering the conflict that has engulfed Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray since November 2020 and argues that IGAD’s late response and hesitant stand on its role as mediator in this conflict, which was related to Ethiopia’s status in the organization and the region, was a lesson that IGAD should learn regarding its involvement in current and future conflicts. Furthermore, the specific timing of the Ethiopia-Tigray crisis, which coincided with an acute climate crisis in the region, underscores the fact that IGAD must move beyond a mediation role and propose more viable ways of coping with the devastating interwoven consequences of human-made conflicts and climate hazards, especially in view of IGAD member states’ common vulnerabilities based on its experience in conflict mediation, both in relation to the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict and in other conflicts.

The Role of Regional Multi Actor Mediators The Case of IGAD in the Ethiopia Tigray Conflict, 2024

Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is a regional organization with institutional ... more Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is
a regional organization with institutional experience in active
conflict mediation, accumulated over many years. The emerging
conflict in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray – and specifically
the fact that the conflict involved Ethiopia, considered to be one
of the most significant powers in East Africa and a prominent
member of IGAD – posed new challenges to the organization’s
mediation efforts. As such, it is important to ask what the role of
regional mediation is, or how effective can such mediation be
when a significant regional power is involved in an intrastate
conflict with major potential regional implications. This article
addresses this question considering the conflict that has engulfed
Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray since November 2020 and
argues that IGAD’s late response and hesitant stand on its role as
mediator in this conflict, which was related to Ethiopia’s status in
the organization and the region, was a lesson that IGAD should
learn regarding its involvement in current and future conflicts.
Furthermore, the specific timing of the Ethiopia-Tigray crisis,
which coincided with an acute climate crisis in the region, underscores
the fact that IGAD must move beyond a mediation role and
propose more viable ways of coping with the devastating interwoven
consequences of human-made conflicts and climate
hazards, especially in view of IGAD member states’ common
vulnerabilities based on its experience in conflict mediation,
both in relation to the Ethiopia-Tigray conflict and in other
conflicts.

From Sudan to South Sudan

A number of analysts and observers have noted that in the Horn of Africa, contemporary Middle Eas... more A number of analysts and observers have noted that in the Horn of Africa, contemporary Middle Eastern states are now influencing events on the ground and long-term patterns of change. Moreover, the regional divisions within the Middle East, such as the divide between Iran, Turkey and Qatar on the one hand, and the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt on the other, impacts how they compete for shares in the economic and human potential of the Horn of Africa, which includes about 150 million people. Indeed, it seems that the Horn is one of the more turbulent regions in the world, which at the same time is among the most geopolitically and economically important. Currently, the intersection of global, regional, national, and local interests is creating rapid change and political transition.

Saintly Spheres and Islamic Landscapes, 2020

Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 2008

Abstract Conflicts and encounters between Sufis and Islamists have persisted throughout much of I... more Abstract Conflicts and encounters between Sufis and Islamists have persisted throughout much of Islamic history in areas such as the Middle East, the North Caucasus, and the Indian sub-continent. In this context, two cases from West Africa are particularly interesting. In colonial Senegal, Wahhâbî influences were common, and during the 1950s, they even seemed to pose an alternative to the hegemony of Sufism in the colony of Senegal. Yet in the creation and development of the post-colonial state, the centrality of Sufism has apparently confined the influence of the Wahhâbîsts to the margins. In Nigeria, on the other hand, the influence of the Wahhâbîyah was marginal in the colonial period and the Sufi tarîqas maintained their status and appeal to the masses; from the 1960s onwards, Wahhâbî influences gradually diminished the power of Sufism amongst Nigerian Muslims. This article explores and compares the dynamics that developed between Sufis and Wahhâbîsts in Senegal and Nigeria, from the colony to the post-colony. Inasmuch as Senegal and Nigeria represent the Francophone and Anglophone colonies and postcolonies, analyzing the historical development of different colonial heritages will clarify the apparent similarities and differences in relations between Sufis and Wahhâbîsts in these two spheres of influences.

The dissolution of Sudan into two sovereign states marked the first direct rejection of the Afric... more The dissolution of Sudan into two sovereign states marked the first direct rejection of the African Union's sacrosanct principle of maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all member states since Eritrea's secession from Ethiopia in 1993. After almost four decades of civil war (19551972; 1983-2005) and an estimated death toll of more than 2 million people, South Sudan's establishment attested to the ability of a long-suffering population to successfully challenge an oppressive and violent regime.

Comparative Studies of South Asia Africa and the Middle East, 2004

The Emerging Role of African Regional Organizations in Enforcing Electoral Results

This article aims to review the East Africa regional organization Intergovernmental Authority on ... more This article aims to review the East Africa regional organization
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediation
efforts in Sudan and South Sudan and to contextualize them
within the broader context of regionalization in post-Cold War
Africa. The idea of using sub-regional organizations to solve
interstate conflicts derived from the interwoven phenomena of
increasing Western isolationism toward Africa and the growing
number of conflicts in the post-Cold War continent. Against this
backdrop, the intervention of IGAD in the conflict between northern
and southern Sudan in the 1990s and 2000s illustrates how
proactive intervention and mediation by a regional organization
may contribute to the resolution of intrastate conflicts. IGAD’s
mediation efforts were in demand again when it turned out that
South Sudan’s historic achievement of independence was overshadowed
by internal strife, which has, since 2013, escalated to a
large-scale conflict. In this context, the article will try to explore
whether IGAD’s accumulated institutional experience over many
years of active mediation has marked a new direction of regional
activism in East Africa.

Conflicts and encounters between Sufis and Islamists have persisted throughout much of Islamic hi... more Conflicts and encounters between Sufis and Islamists have persisted throughout much of Islamic history in areas such as the Middle East, the North Caucasus, and the Indian sub-continent. In this context, two cases from West Africa are particularly interesting. In colonial Senegal, Wahhabi influences were common, and during the 1950s, they even seemed to pose an alternative to the hegemony of Sufism in the colony of Senegal. Yet in the creation and development of the post-colonial state, the centrality of Sufism has apparently confined the influence of the Wahhabists to the margins. In Nigeria, on the other hand, the influence of the Wahhdbiyah was marginal in the colonial period and the Sufi tariqas maintained their status and appeal to the masses; from the 1960s onwards, Wahhdbi influences gradually diminished the power of Sufism amongst Nigerian Muslims. This article explores and compares the dynamics that developed between Sufis and Wahhdbists in Senegal and Nigeria, from the colony to the post-colony. Inasmuch as Senegal and Nigeria represent the Francophone and Anglophone colonies and post- colonies, analyzing the historical development of different colonial heritages will clarify the apparent similarities and differences in relations between Sufis and Wahhdbists in these two spheres of influences

On July 9, 2011, Africa’s newest nation was born: South Sudan. After almost four decades of civil... more On July 9, 2011, Africa’s newest nation was born: South Sudan. After almost four decades of civil war (1955-1972; 1983-2005), an estimated death toll of more than two million and displacement of nearly four million persons, South
Sudan’s establishment attested to the ability of a long-suffering population to
successfully challenge an oppressive and violent regime. Yet, at the same time, the dissolution of Sudan marked the first direct rejection of Africa’s principle of maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the continent’s states. Sudan’s dissolution into two sovereign states was a dramatic event
that has challenged many of the conventional, even sacrosanct notions of state cohesion, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. This chapter will analyze these challenges, in terms of both Sudanese politics and those of the African continent as a whole.

Moreshet; Journal for the Study of the Holocaust and Antisemitism , 2021

From Sudan to South Sudan IGAD and the Role of Regional Mediation in Africa, 2020

Journal of the Middle East and Africa, Jun 3, 2024

The Role of Regional Multi Actor Mediators The Case of IGAD in the Ethiopia Tigray Conflict, 2024

From Sudan to South Sudan

Saintly Spheres and Islamic Landscapes, 2020

Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines, 2008

Comparative Studies of South Asia Africa and the Middle East, 2004

The Emerging Role of African Regional Organizations in Enforcing Electoral Results

Pilgrimage routes from West Africa provided channels for cultural and spiritual exchange between ... more Pilgrimage routes from West Africa provided channels for cultural
and spiritual exchange between West African and Middle Eastern
Muslims, and facilitated religious exchanges. Some of these
exchanges were orthodox in nature; others, such as Sufi beliefs and
practices, were more popular in their appeal. This article examines
the ways that Tij¯aniyya t¯ariqa leaders and disciples spread
their beliefs and practices along the hajj routes during the colonial
period. Since this period saw the transformation of boundaries
and borders, the hajj could be perceived more as a “state affair,”
as its routes moved within the boundaries of the new empires or
fluctuated between the new colonial empires. The article focuses on
the Tij¯aniyya t¯ariqa, mainly because this t¯ariqa was relatively new
(established around the beginning of the nineteenth century) and
as such serves as a good case study for the spread of t¯ariqa affiliations
through the hajj routes from West Africa during the colonial
period. This article also examines the role of the hajj for Tij¯ani West
African Muslims who settled in Jerusalem in the same period.