Mother Jones published on 13 February 2025 a commentary titled "Chaos, Harassment, and Unpaid Bills: Inside Elon Musk's War on USAID" by Tim Murphy and Abby Vesoulis.
The commentary describes what USAID and its employees have suffered since Elon Musk and his DOGE mercenaries have done to harm the future of American foreign aid and the people who implement it.
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 New York Times published on 28 April 2023 an article titled "U.S. Begins Overland Evacuation of American Civilians from Sudan" by Declan Walsh, Eric Schmitt, Edward Wong, and Abdi Latif Dahir.
After a fast and professional evacuation using Chinook helicopters and special forces personnel of American diplomats from the U.S. embassy compound in Khartoum, the U.S. has belatedly begun to organize an evacuation by road for other Americans more than 500 miles away to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. This follows by almost a week evacuations by air from an airfield north of Khartoum and by road to Port Sudan conducted by France, Germany, and the United Kingdom among others.
The State Department issued on 29 April 2023 a statement titled "Evacuation Efforts of U.S. Citizens from Sudan." It identifies what the U.S. government is doing to evacuate private citizens from Sudan.
Comment: While U.S. policy normally does not include mass evacuations of U.S. citizens from conflict zones, the situation in Sudan would seem to qualify as an exception as was the case for evacuation of Americans from Afghanistan.
Reuters published on 27 April 2023 an article titled "White House Urges Americans to Leave Sudan Within Next 24 to 48 Hours."
Over concern that a cease fire in Sudan will not hold, the White House recommended that American citizens leave Sudan in the next 24 to 48 hours. The United States is not organizing a massive evacuation but is deploying surveillance and reconnaissance assets over Sudan and naval vessels off of Sudan's Red Sea coast.
The China Project published on 27 April 2023 an article titled "China Evacuates Its Citizens Out of Sudan" by Nadya Yeh.
The article summarizes the China-Sudan relationship and efforts by Beijing to evacuate 1,300 nationals safely from Sudan.
Agence France Presse published on 26 April 2023 an article titled "China Evacuates 1,300 Citizens, Other Nationals from Sudan."
There were an estimated 1,500 Chinese nationals in Sudan. So far, China has evacuated more than 1,300 by land or by ship out of Port Sudan. Chinese naval vessels, probably those assigned to the anti-piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden, took part in the evacuation.
World Politics Review published on 25 April 2023 an analysis titled "For Civilians in Sudan, Self-Protection Is the Only Option" by Charli Carpenter, University of Massachusetts-Amherst.
This analysis looks at the options facing both foreign and Sudanese civilians as fighting continues to rage in the country. The options are not good and the future bleak so long as the two military organizations continue to put their interests ahead of the needs of the country.
President Biden issued a statement on 22 April 2023 on the "Situation in Sudan" in which he announced the evacuation of U.S. government personnel from Khartoum by the U.S. military. He thanked Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance and announced the United States is "temporarily suspending operations" at the embassy in Khartoum. He called on the belligerent parties in Sudan to implement an immediate and unconditional ceasefire.
The Washington Post published on 23 April 2023 an article titled "Special Forces Swiftly Evacuate US Embassy Staff from Sudan" by Matthew Lee, Tara Copp, and Aamer Madhani.
About 100 U.S. troops in three MH-47 helicopters positioned in Djibouti airlifted about 70 American employees from a landing zone at the embassy compound in Khartoum to a location in Ethiopia, which also provided overflight and refueling support.
The Washington Post published on 23 April 2023 an article titled "Embassies Rush to Evacuate in Sudan's Chaos, But Thousands of Foreigners Remain" by John Hudson and Katharine Houreld.
The article describes the efforts of other embassies in Khartoum to evacuate their nationals, noting that most foreign nationals remain in the country. While the United States does not plan to conduct additional air evacuations of U.S. nationals, it is considering the use of surveillance and reconnaissance to provide information on potentially safe land routes out of Khartoum.
The Washington Post published on 22 April 2023 an article titled "U.S. Evacuates Embassy Personnel and Families from Sudan, Biden Says" by Claire Parker, Katharine Houreld, Ellen Francis, John Hudson, and Shane Harris.
This article provides additional background on the evacuation of US embassy staff from Khartoum, adding that it is not safe to undertake a US government -coordinated evacuation of private citizens scattered throughout Khartoum.
Comment: The US embassy is located on a large compound in the Soba district on the east side of Khartoum near the Blue Nile River. It is a safer location than many parts of Khartoum from which to conduct an evacuation of this kind.
Foreign Policy published on 19 April 2023 an article titled "Western Governments Look to Escapte the 'Nightmare' in Sudan" by Robbie Gramer and Jack Detsch.
A worst case scenario is unfolding in Sudan whereby neither the Sudan Armed Forces nor the Rapid Support Forces seems to believe that any outcome less than total victory is acceptable.
The New York Times published on 20 April 2023 an article titled "U.S. Positioning Troops for Evacuation of American Embassy in Sudan" by Helene Cooper, Elian Peltier, and Farnaz Fassihi.
While it is currently not safe to undertake a US-government coordinated evacuation from Sudan because of the breakdown of security, it is deploying more troops at its base in neighboring Djibouti on a contingency basis.
Comment: As Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Khartoum in the mid-1980s and required to play a key role in two evacuations of US citizens under much less hostile conditions than what the embassy faces today, I can attest to the challenges. The Khartoum airport is closed and damaged and the capital is far from the border of any neighboring country, many of which have their own issues. An evacuation would require the acceptance of the two contending forces.
Channel News Asia in Singapore posted on 19 April 2023 a 13 minute podcast titled "Will Beijing Step Up to Broker Peace in Sudan?" with me.
Although the focus is on China and Sudan, the podcast also covers China's loan policy in Africa and African public opinion towards China and the United States.
CNN published on 18 April 2023 an article titled "US State Department Establishes Special Taskforce to Deal with Sudan Crisis" by Jennifer Hansler.
The U.S. Department of State has established a Sudan Military Conflict Task Force to oversee developments related to Sudan as law and order breaks down in the country.
China Brief published on 31 March 2023 an article titled "Central African Republic Mine Attack: Can China Protect Its Overseas Nationals?" by John S. Van Oudenaren.
On March 19, gunmen attacked miners at a gold mine in the Central African Republic, killing 9 Chinese workers. The author asks if China has the capacity to protect its nationals in dangerous parts of the world. The People's Liberation Army still has limited capacity to conduct complex, joint operations in regions far beyond East Asia. A growing number of Chinese private security companies have begun operating abroad but have not yet proved to be the solution.
Comment: Two weeks after the incident in the CAR, China evacuated 80 Chinese nationals from the country.
Foreign Policy published an article on 5 November 2021 titled "State Starts Ethiopia Task Force as It Urges U.S. Citizens to Leave" by Robbie Gramer.
The State Department has set up an Ethiopian task force and advised U.S. citizens to leave the country "as soon as possible." This action indicates the US government is increasingly concerned about the future of Ethiopia.
