Chad

In late January, a low-intensity, festering civil conflict between the Chadian government and a disparate group of rebels exploded into violent confrontation in the capital N'Djamena, causing thousands of Chadians to flee into neighboring Cameroon and Nigeria. The Sudanese government, which is responsible for genocide in Darfur, supports Chadian rebels because it wants to end the Chadian government’s support for rebels in Darfur and block the deployment of European Union peacekeepers to Eastern Chad. At the same time, the Chadian government is among the world’s most venal and its citizens are among the world’s most destitute and disenfranchised. Chad will continue to be unstable and a theater for proxy conflict with Sudan unless the international community takes two significant actions. First, it must impose a cost on the Sudanese government for supporting regime change in Chad. Second, it must press strongly for dramatic internal political reforms that will mitigate future conflict.

Learn more about Chad from this New York Times slideshow from the region.