'None of us know how the fighting will develop or whether Sudan is on the precipice of another civil war. What we can say, however, is that the vast majority of the international community hopes a civil war can be avoided.' -DanDePetris
The African nation of Sudan is no stranger to conflict. Since Sudan declared independence from the U.K. and Egypt in 1956, there have been too many insurgencies and civil conflicts to count. One of the deadliest ended in 2005, when Khartoum signed a deal with Sudan’s People Liberation Movement/Army to grant the South Sudanese the ability to secede and create their own state.
Sudan’s latest clash, however, isn't another traditional case of the center fighting with the periphery, but rather the center fighting with itself. Sudan’s army chief and de facto leader, Gen. Abdel Fattah al Burhan, and the head of the Rapid Support Forces , Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo , two men who allied to oust the civilian prime minister in 2021, are now struggling against each other for power.
None of us know how the fighting will develop or whether Sudan is on the precipice of another civil war. What we can say, however, is that the vast majority of the international community hopes a civil war can be avoided. World powers, including Russia and the U.S., have called on Burhan and Hemedti to agree to a ceasefire. Multiple attempts at solidifying a truce have already broken down, notwithstanding claims by Sudan’s top two generals that they support such efforts.
These are ominous but not necessarily surprising developments. They aren't surprising because you would expect states to do what they usually do: protect their own economic and political interests. For better or worse, Egypt believes its interests are best achieved by helping Burhan take power by force.
When a civil war turns into a proxy conflict, it tends to lengthen the fighting to the detriment of civilians, result in more material damage to the country, and muddle the opportunities for a diplomatic way out. And with foreign benefactors pouring resources into their armories, Burhan and Hemedti will have little incentive to even consider a truce, let alone negotiations.Daniel DePetris is a contributor to the Washington Examiner's Beltway Confidential blog. His opinions are his own.
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