SORRY, SUDAN: THE UNITED STATES HAS A LONG TRADITION OF HELPING DISTANT STRANGERS. BUT MANY AMERICANS NOW QUESTION OUR ABILITY TO DO GOOD IN FARAWAY LANDS. FEW PLACES ARE MORE REMOTE—AND TROUBLED—THAN THIS ONE

On the wall in the home office of Salva Kiir, the president of Southern Sudan, hang two oversize portraits—one of Jesus Christ and the other of himself. On his desk, between a pair of hippo bookends, Kiir has placed a copy of the Devotional Study Bible next to an edition of Robert Greene's self-help book, The 48 Laws of Power.