Since April 15, Sudan has been caught up in a raging conflict for power between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). While the U.S. embassy was closed off and all diplomats and military personnel were evacuated, there were thousands of registered U.S. citizens still left in Sudan, some of whom do not want to leave. The U.S. received some criticism of this inaction despite technically having "no legal obligation to evacuate citizens" and having relayed constant warnings over the years concerning the political state of Sudan; still, the U.S., along with African and Arab nations, the United Nations, and other countries, called for cease-fires in order to allow for citizens and Sudanese to flee. Currently, the U.S. is hoping to extend the U.S.-brokered 72-hour ceasefire, which ends today, in order to hold out for what could be the last chance for evacuation.
However, there is a lot on the line beyond these mass evacuations, as the outcome of the violence in Sudan has international implications. The U.S. has long supported Sudan in the hopes of democracy and stability for the country, recently providing more than $288 million in humanitarian aid in Sudan earlier this year and developing their relations through counter-terrorism cooperation. Susan Stigant, running the Africa programs at the U.S. Institute of Peace, says, "Having a stable Sudan that looks to the United States as a partner, a core partner, that's incredibly strategic." But these hopes for democracy have flown out the window as the two powers, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (Sudan's de-facto ruler with support of SAF) and Gen Mohamed Hamden Dagalo, aka Hemedti (warlord followed by RSF), who previously worked together to stage the coup d'etat of former autocratic President Omar al-Bashir, broke out into a power struggle, neither of whom claims to have started it. The problem is that Sudan's location possesses a particular importance: lying between the Red Sea, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa, there is threat of conflict and instability spilling across these borders. The United States Institute of Peace also foresees that "vested interests in Sudan may be tempted to throw their weight behind [either the SAF or the RSF]" and with Russia's interest in a potential base on the Red Sea, the situation is all the more precarious.
While America takes on strong foundations of democracy, it is important to acknowledge the vastly different forms of government and policy of other countries. Though Sudan has been pushed by three presidents as a foreign policy priority, after decades of conflict and with the current ongoing power struggle with no means of compromise in sight, a democratic transition grows increasingly difficult and proves the futility of following political over constitutional interests.
