Sudan: The Story of a Country That Ignored Its Problems and Paid the Price

What Sudan has become today is not the result of a passing moment or a sudden crisis, but rather the accumulation of a long path of poor political decisions, ideological conflicts, and narrow power struggles that governed a vast and complex country ■ one with multiple ethnicities, cultures, and religions. Sudan — once the largest country in Africa by area and rich in both natural and human resources — remained hostage to a political and military elite that failed to grasp that managing diversity is not an optional extra, but the foundation for a state’s survival.

■ Roots of the Crisis: An Incomplete Independence

From the moment of independence in 1956, Sudan faced a fundamental question: how to build a nation that includes an Arab Muslim north, an African Christian and animist south, and eastern and western regions with distinct cultural and economic identities? The answer that prevailed, however, was exclusion rather than partnership; Arabization and forced Islamization rather than recognition of plurality; military coups rather than democratic transfer of power. Thus, every transitional phase became just another chapter in the cycle of conflict.

■ Coups and Narrow Ideologies

Sudan witnessed three major coups (Abboud, Nimeiri, al-Bashir). The common denominator among them was the attempt to impose a political project detached from the country’s social realities. Nimeiri tried to blend socialism and political Islam, only to end up in popular isolation. Al-Bashir adopted the rhetoric of the Islamic movement, which deepened divisions with the south and with Darfur, fueling a civil war that culminated in South Sudan’s secession in 2011 — costing the country a third of its territory and a significant share of its oil resources.

■ Ignoring Diversity: A Persistent Sin

For decades, Sudan’s diversity was not managed through reconciliation but rather through attempts to erase or marginalize it. The result: neglected regions, a collapsing economy, mass displacement, and recurring armed conflicts — from South Sudan to Darfur, the Nuba Mountains, and Blue Nile. Instead of becoming a source of strength, diversity turned into the fuel for explosion.

■ A Lost Opportunity After the Revolution

When Sudanese people overthrew al-Bashir’s regime in 2019, a new hope emerged for building a fair civilian state. But the fragile partnership between civilians and the military, the internal struggles among revolutionary forces, and the absence of a clear vision for managing the transitional phase all paved the way for the outbreak of war between the army and the Rapid Support Forces in 2023 — plunging Sudan into its worst crisis since independence.

■ A People Who Deserve Life

Despite all this, the Sudanese people remain the brightest point in this dark scene. A people who have proven — through their revolutions and resilience — that they yearn for a modern state to end decades of failure. But building such a state will only be possible through a profound re-examination of Sudan’s entire trajectory: redefining the social contract, recognizing all components without discrimination, separating religion from the state in a way that protects everyone, and ending the logic of rule by force.

This analysis can also be turned into an investigative report by tracing documents, historical milestones, and statements by leaders of each era, and linking them to figures on displacement, killings, and economic collapse.