Foreign Policy published on 3 February 2025 a commentary titled "Why Sudanese Democracy Activists Are Now Backing the Army" by Yasir Zaidan, University of Washington.
As the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) gains ground against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), young democracy activists are increasingly turning towards support of the Army. The RSF is viewed as a foreign-backed militia responsible for heinous crimes.
Time published on 16 January 2025 a commentary titled "Locals in Sudan Are Saving Lives that International Aid Agencies Can't Reach" by Karl Vick.
Sudan faces the world's largest humanitarian crisis, and the government has ceased to function. A grass roots campaign has created more than 600 pop-up community centers known as Emergency Response Rooms (EERs) to do what would normally be expected of a government.
The Washington Post posted on 19 July 2024 an article titled "Inside Sudan, Devastating Warfare Forces Desperate Choices" by Katharine Houreld and Hafiz Haroun.
Washington Post journalists visited 5 Sudanese cities accompanied by Sudanese officials. They interviewed numerous war survivors and provided a variety of photographs.
Aljazeera published on 1 April 2024 an article titled "Are Sudan's Civil Society Activists Being Targeted by Both Warring Sides?" by Mat Nashed.
There are recent reports that both the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) are targeting and sometimes arresting civil society activists who operate soup kitchens for the poor and provide other help in their "emergency response rooms." The goal of the RSF and the SAF apparently is to maintain control over all elements of civil society.
Aljazeera published on 9 January 2024 an article titled "'They're Targeting Us': Sudan's Army Cracks Down on Democracy Activists."
As the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces made military advances into eastern Sudan, the Sudan Armed Forces reportedly began cracking down on civilian resistance committees.
African Arguments published on 29 September 2023 a commentary titled "Conditioned to Fail: Donor and Multilateral Engagement in Post-Revolution Sudan" by Muez Ali, Muzan Alneel, and Mayada Hassanain.
The authors put much of the blame for the military coup d'état in Sudan on the failure of the donor community and international financial institutions to respond appropriately to the growing crisis.
The International Crisis Group posted on 26 July 2023 a 36-minute podcast titled "The Future of Sudan's Resistance Committees" with Maryam Elfaki, a member of a resistance committee in Bahri.
This is a rare discussion with a member of a resistance committee in Khartoum's northern sister city of Bahri, Maryam Elfaki, who is currently outside Sudan for security reasons. Bahri is totally controlled by the Rapid Support Forces.
The discussion addresses the challenges facing the resistance committees (RCs), which are currently focused on delivery of humanitarian aid. Different RCs have different agendas. In the Khartoum capital region there are two different groups of RCs, roughly divided into moderate and radical factions. The RC agendas also vary in other cities in Sudan. They all agree, however, on the need for civilian government. As a general rule, the RCs make their decisions on the basis of 70 percent agreement by the members.
Foreign Policy published on 29 June 2023 a commentary titled "Support Sudan's Revolution, Not an Elite Peace Deal" by Sharath Srinivasan, University of Cambridge.
The author argues that a series of failed ceasefires arranged with Sudan's generals is not the answer to ending the crisis. Courting the belligerents only legitimized them. Instead, the international community needs to prioritize the role of the civilians who were responsible for getting rid of the former military government.
Foreign Policy published on 10 May 2023 a commentary titled "How the U.S. Fumbled Sudan's Hopes for Democracy" by Robbie Gramer.
This is a sharp criticism of U.S. policy towards Sudan during the events leading up to the outbreak of conflict on 15 April 2023 between the Sudan Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
Comment: While there probably were U.S. policy mistakes during the events leading up to the conflict, this analysis omits one important conclusion. Most of the blame for the catastrophe in Sudan today lies squarely with the Sudan Armed Forces led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, head of the Rapid Support Forces.
The Arab Center Washington, D.C. posted on 23 January 2023 a commentary titled "Sudan's Political Process and Hopes for a Civilian Government" by Kholood Khair.
Sudan's Framework Agreement to relaunch a transition to civilian government is dependent on support from the international community. Sudan's military rulers made few concessions and civilians will likely acquire only bureaucratic and not political power. The author predicts the agreement "will likely lead to a weak and barely legitimate Potemkin village of a government that is unable to deliver real change."
The International Crisis Group (ICG) published on 23 January 2023 a statement titled "A Critical Window to Bolster Sudan's Next Government."
Sudan's military government has concluded a framework agreement with dozens of civilian leaders for a transitional government, but several important groups refused to take part in the process. The ICG argues that it is now essential to expand support for the agreement.
The Associated Press published on 7 December 2022 an article titled "Blinken Threatens Travel Ban for Sudanese Who Endanger Deal."
The US has warned Sudanese leaders that it will impose a travel ban on any individuals who threaten to derail Sudan's fragile democratic transition. Some key Sudanese actors have not signed on to the most recent deal between Sudan's military leaders and an important civil society organization.
The Associated Press published on 5 December 2022 an article titled "Sudan's Generals, Pro-democracy Group Ink Deal to End Crisis."
General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, and the Leaders of the Forces for the Declaration of Freedom and Change agreed to the broad outlines of a deal to resume Sudan's movement to democracy. The agreement does not have the support of key political forces, including the grassroots pro-democracy Resistance Committees. The lack of detail in the agreement also raises serious questions about its prospects for success.
The Associated Press published on 25 October 2022 an article titled "Thousands March in Khartoum on 1st Anniversary of Sudan Coup" by Jack Jeffrey.
One year after the military seized power from a coalition military-civilian government, civilian protesters have again taken to the streets to protest the military's action and demand a return to civilian rule.
The US Institute of Peace published on 6 October 2022 a commentary titled "42 Months On, How Does Sudan's Democracy Movement Endure?" by Jawhara Kanu and Jonathan Pinckney.
Sudan's deeply rooted tradition of nonviolent civic action is the basis of its current democracy movement that continues to function in spite of offsetting violent conflicts in the country.
The Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI) published on 3 October 2022 a commentary titled "Helping Put Sudan's Democratic Transition Back on Track" by Benjamin Oestericher, FPRI intern.
The author argues that the international community, especially the United States, failed to adequately support Sudan's civilian government during the key window of opportunity it had to gain the legitimacy of the Sudanese people. COVID-19, climate change, and serious flooding exacerbated the challenge.
Comment: The missing part of this argument is the unwillingness of the military, which has the guns, to yield meaningful power to a civilian government.
