Richard Miniter

About the author: Richard Miniter writes on subjects such as entrepreneurship, national politics, foreign affairs, and the environment. His articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Reader's Digest.

Sudan has been embroiled in a civil war between the Muslim North and the Christian South since the country gained its independence from Britain in 1956. The northern government in Khartoum encourages tribesmen to raid southern villages and abduct people, who are later sold in northern slave markets. To combat this problem, international organizations have been raising funds to purchase the freedom of slaves from slave traders, a practice known as slave redemption. Unfortunately, slave redemption increases the market value of slaves and encourages raiders to abduct more people to sell to slave redeemers. Eliminating the economic incentive for trading slaves...