Sudan has long suffered from a complicated religious-ethnic conflict. In Mali,France was drawn into a religious-infused civil war. Nigeria is a divided nation where long-standing sectarian antagonisms increasingly have been amplified by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram, which kills moderate Muslims as well as Christians. Thankfully, fighting in the first two has ebbed. But Nigeria’s battle remains intense, albeit contained within its national boundaries.
However, rising violence within the Central African Republic threatens to swamp the other conflicts in regional impact. Attacks on Christians following a takeover by the rebel Islamic Seleka coalition triggered retaliation by Christian militias. Not only is the violence creating a host of angry victims, but the outward flow of refugees is planting seeds of conflict in surrounding nations.