Having seen this expediency, Khartoum relies on Darfur not remaining a serious irritant in various bilateral and multilateral relations. This will certainly be true if some fig leaf of a protection force deploys and desultory peace talks proceed indefinitely.

Khartoum will be persuaded that the international community is serious only if deployment of the force recently authorized by Resolution 1769 is clearly under UN command, and if it is made plain that obstructionism by the regime will be met with harsh sanctions. It must be understood that military force will be used against any armed elements that impede deployment or operations of the authorized force. Selection of the components of the deploying force must rest squarely with the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO); Jean-Marie Guehenno, head of UN DPKO, should insist that the African Union have only an advisory role in the selection of troops and civilian police. Critically, the militarily capable Western nations that have been scandalously laggard in providing key transport, logistical, and tactical air resources must be urgently forthcoming. Civilian police and military observers should be deployed on a highly expedited basis to the most insecure and volatile areas, with adequate military protection.

On the political front, China must be convinced to cease protecting its client state from real diplomatic pressure. Here advocacy efforts focusing on Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics have been much more effective than those of Western governments. European nations must be prepared to suspend diplomatic relations in the event that Khartoum cleaves to its obstructionist ways, and they should be prepared to impose economic sanctions as robust as those of the United States.

Khartoum’s génocidaires may be ruthless, but they are calculating. If there is not relentless scrutiny, a firm demand that all benchmarks be met, and a clear indication that every occasion of reneging will be met with a decisive response, then Khartoum will simply outwait the international community. A voluntary departure from office by the regime is highly unlikely, especially since International Criminal Court indictments ultimately await all these génocidaires. The regime’s contemptuous defiance of the ICC warrant for Ahmed Haroun—instrumental in Darfur’s genocidal destruction and now Minister for Humanitarian Affairs—gives us a sense of how improbable NIF surrender will be.

The international community must fashion the broadly coercive measures necessary to compel Khartoum to comply with its various commitments and with explicit international demands; otherwise, atrocity crimes will continue to serve as the basis for domestic security policy throughout Sudan.