Sudan: Why Is There A Conflict?

Warfare

History Hit

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4.5 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 19 May 2023

⏱️ 32 minutes

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Summary

Fighting has broken out in Sudan following years of power struggle between the country's military leadership: General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the armed forces, and General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

However, the origins of this conflict can be traced back to 1956, when Sudan first gained independence from the British-Egyptian Condominium. Since, Sudan has been a country that has tried to establish a civilian, democratic government time and again, but each time has been derailed by a military coup.

In today's episode, host James Patton Rogers is joined by the first US Ambassador to South Sudan, Susan D Page, to help make sense of this complex history. From independence in 1956, through to President Omar al-Bashir's 2019 downfall and the 2021 coup, they assess what the history means for events happening right now, and finally, what steps towards peace could look like.

Produced by Elena Guthrie, edited by Annie Coloe.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Fighting in Sudan has continued to rage over recent weeks as violence broke out between the
0:06.0	Sudanese army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces.
0:10.5	The two are engaged in a power struggle over who gets to run the resource-rich nation that sits at a crossroads between North Africa, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, and the Red Sea.
0:20.0	But who are the rapid support forces, and how does the current period of violence in Sudan link back to the country's history since its independence in 1956?
0:32.0	I'm your host James Patton Rogers, this is warfare, and to help us find answers to these questions,
0:37.3	I've invited Ambassador Susan Page onto the podcast. Susan was the first US ambassador to a newly independent South Sudan, and it's from her experience
0:46.4	broken agreements in the region that we learn just how important and how devastating the
0:51.4	current conflict really is.
0:53.4	Ambassador Page, welcome to the Warfare Podcast.
1:04.1	How you do today?
1:04.9	I'm great.
1:05.9	Thank you so much for having me on the program.
1:08.1	Well, I think it's an important time to have you on the podcast.
1:11.5	All of our listeners will have seen that every major news outlet
1:16.2	around the world is reporting that the conflict in Sudan continues to rage unabated despite attempts at peace agreements and ceasefires and
1:26.7	yet the conflict is continuing at this moment in time. However, it's hard to understand what the drivers of this are, given the fact that Sudan has been a country that has been embroiled in conflict since its independence back in the 1950s. And seeing as you were the US ambassador to South Sudan,
1:46.4	I was wondering if you could take us back to perhaps what you think is the most
1:50.9	pertinent starting point to help us understand what is going on in Sudan today.
1:56.0	So Sudan has gone through a number of coups and crises and conflicts since it gained a dependence from the British Egyptian condominium in
2:07.7	1956 on January 1st of 1956.
2:12.2	So fast forward into the mid 80s and a change of power towards the late 80s
2:19.2	with Omar al-Bashir becoming president of the country.
	...

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