The International Crisis Group (ICG) posted on 10 October 2025 a 46-minute podcast titled "Can a U.S.-Arab Roadmap Stop Sudan's War?" hosted by Richard Atwood with ICG experts Shewit Woldemichael, Alan Boswell, and Yasmine Farouk.
The podcast summarizes the military situation in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The SAF is slowly moving elements of government from Port Sudan back to Khartoum, where it has consolidated control. Both the SAF and RSF are receiving increasingly sophisticated military equipment such as drones. Turkey, Egypt, Russia, and Iran support the SAF while the UAE is the major backer of the RSF, which has established a parallel secular government in Darfur.
The Sudan conflict is now the highest priority for Massad Boulos, the Trump administration special envoy for Africa. He represents the United States as part of the Quad, which includes Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE, and recently called for a ceasefire and proposed an eventual peace plan. UAE support for the RSF continues to be an obstacle but may still conclude there are important reasons for ending the conflict. The SAF and its allies are more opposed to the Quad peace effort than is the RSF.