Sudan is living through one of the darkest chapters in its modern history. Each day brings mounting insecurity, economic collapse, and humanitarian catastrophe, as lawlessness spreads across towns and villages amid the near-total breakdown of public services, the paralysis of the healthcare system, and the spread of deadly epidemics. The state is absent, and the consequences are dire.
A Country on the Brink of Fragmentation
With one disaster compounding another, the country is inching closer to a full-scale famine and social collapse. Despite the despair, many Sudanese still cling to a sliver of hope — that a new government, however transitional, might take meaningful steps to restore internal security and reestablish basic services.
But as the Arabic poet Al-Mutanabbi once wrote, “The winds blow against what ships long for.” The senseless expansion of this war has devastated entire cities, torn apart the social fabric, and inflicted psychological wounds too deep to heal quickly. The future — once up for the taking — now hangs precariously over a nation battered and bleeding, its unity and sovereignty under urgent threat.
A Stolen Revolution… and the Return of Dangerous Players
The euphoria following the fall of Omar al-Bashir’s authoritarian Islamist regime quickly faded as familiar enemies began to reemerge. Elements of the deep state — Islamists, war profiteers, and counter-revolutionaries — regrouped through secret alliances and military coordination, aiming to crush Sudan’s democratic hopes once again.
Sudan’s revolution stunned the world with its extraordinary peacefulness, clearly defined demands, and unwavering mantra: Peace, disbanding Janjaweed militias, exclusion of extremist Islamists, restoring freedoms, and building a civil, democratic state.
These demands terrified entrenched elites. The Janjaweed mercenaries, realizing they had no future in the new Sudan, resorted to scorched earth tactics. While other militias opted for temporary political compromise, remnants of the former regime — skilled in deception and stealth — conspired from within state institutions, particularly the military, to dismantle the revolution from the inside.
A Regional Chessboard: Foreign Greed Cloaked in “Stability”
The tragedy of Sudan’s revolution isn’t just domestic. Regional forces have played an outsized role in fueling the conflict, each with its own agenda.
Nations like the UAE, Egypt, Libya, Chad, and Russia saw democratic change in Sudan as a threat to their interests — whether out of fear of popular uprisings spreading or a desire to continue exploiting Sudan’s wealth and resources. For some, like the UAE, maintaining influence over Sudanese ports and gold mines remains a strategic priority.
Meanwhile, Western powers weren’t blameless either. Some European countries — through ignorance or willful negligence — reduced Sudan’s complex reality into a simplistic narrative: a clash between Islamist extremists and democratic actors. This distortion gave rogue regional actors the perfect pretext for intervention under the guise of fighting terrorism, when in truth they were exacerbating the war and enabling state collapse.
Futility of Foreign Misconceptions and the Cost of Global Silence
It is deeply ironic that the global community sprang into action during Libya’s conflict, yet offered little more than statements for Sudan’s democratic transition. While Sudan’s transitional government struggled for survival, it was left unsupported — paving the way for foreign powers to hijack the narrative and manipulate outcomes in their favor.
Regional backers like UAE, Egypt, and Libya positioned themselves as Western proxies, claiming to be stabilizers when their actions were anything but. This opened a window of opportunity for Islamist factions to rebrand themselves as defenders of sovereignty — convincing some segments of the public that it was international betrayal, not internal failure, that threatened Sudan’s survival.
No Place for Janjaweed or Islamists in Sudan’s Future
The Sudanese people’s message has always been clear: No place for dictatorship, plunder, or religious extremism in the new Sudan.
It is inconceivable that millions rallied from every corner of the country with united demands — only to dismiss their collective voice as misguided or naïve. Sudan’s revolution was no accident. It was the product of decades of awareness and sacrifice. A people that knows its enemies — local and foreign — but still waits for its friends to show up.
Peace may feel distant today, but it is not impossible.
It will require the world to finally understand Sudan’s true struggle — to strip destructive forces of their impunity, and to stand firmly with the legitimate aspirations of a people who have given everything to build a just, civil, democratic nation.