“Mabrook Janoob Sudan!,” the crowds shouted. “Congratulations, South Sudan!”
Early this morning, South Sudan(about the size of Texas, 8 million people, capital Juba) became the world’s newest nation and the 193rd member of the U.N.
South Sudanese wave their new flag
The independence movement is wildly popular and got over 90% of the vote in a referendum. So, there is euphoria. It could be a good thing for South Sudan. We should be optimistic now, because we might not have the chance later.
They’ve got oil and some minerals. They have, of course, a sunny climate, a rather swampy stretch of the Nile river, and mostly subsistence agriculture. With a massive infusion of foreign cash for infrastructure (hospitals, schools, roads, water purification, maybe a couple of nice hotels in Juba) they could develop into a nice country, and pay for it all with oil revenues.
North Sudan, of course, is totally screwed. Did I mention that South Sudan has the oil? Also worth mentioning is that one of the big backers of South Sudanese independence was George Bush, who is not exactly famous for his philanthropic intent.
It’s sort of like what the British did to Iraq in 1926. Iraq wanted independence. Britain let the northern part of the country go free, but kept the part with the richest oil deposits, which they named Kuwait. When they gave Kuwait independence, 25 or 30 years later, they already had the families they wanted, who were friendly to British Petroleum, in power.
Mabrook Janoob Sudan. I hope things work out for the best. But I wouldn’t bet money on it.
www.gurukalehuru.com 
Well, see, there’s your problem: you’re just betting on the wrong side.
If you were more like Bush, or England, you’d engineer the deck so it was stacked in your favor so your bet would be the single best bet possible. Of course, that requires a degree of selfishness that would be tantamount to saying, “screw all those people – I want their wealth”. Again, if you were like Bush, that would be no problem.
exactly