With the southern Sudanese referendum for independence less than a year away, it is a bit puzzling that the south is not overcome by an overwhelming sense of nationalism. It is true that on the eve of the national elections, the increasing number of independent candidates has fractured southern political parties that were previously utilized as national rallying bases.

This week, be on the lookout for our latest report from Sudan. But in the meantime, here are some links from around the globe:

The American military is stretched pretty thin these days. We're in two wars; we have lots of global commitments. On any given day, one third of our troops are actually involved in an operation, one third are getting ready to go and one third have just come back. Busy.

When grappling with the complex category of “climate migration,” much can get lost in translation. First, the term itself is difficult to pin down. If a family loses its livelihood as a result of increased drought and desertification and has to relocate to an urban area for work, is this an example of climate displacement, or are they economic migrants whose powerlessness to provide for themselves is simply compounded by environmental factors? If a national of one country is forced to cross international borders as a result of violent conflict over limited natural resources, how are they different from any other refugee protected under the 1951 Refugee Convention?

When Valentino Achak Deng, the subject of Dave Egger’s best selling novel What is the What speaks, he allows long pauses between sentences during which you can almost hear his audience holding their breath. On Tuesday night, Refugees International’s Washington Circle featured Valentino as part of a panel discussion on “The Year of Sudan: What Lies Ahead” at the Mexican Cultural Institute.