Social Science Research Council

Once upon a time, ordinary Sudanese citizens followed a set of social mores that we all understood. Everyone’s door was open – it had to be so because nobody had a working telephone. Even the highest officials in the land were accessible, more often at home than in the office. Today, only pensioners can recall [...]

In the last month Sudan’s Government has forfeited the title ‘of National Unity.’ Cooperation between the NCP and SPLM hardly exists even in name. This week poses an important test of whether it warrants the name ‘Government’ at all.
Sudan long ago failed many of the basic tests of governance. It doesn’t possess a monopoly on [...]

The critique of inequality and monopolization of power in Sudan follows both geographical and class dimensions. The central provinces are vastly richer and better serviced than the peripheries, and the income inequality between the mercantile elite and the remainder is enormous. Unfortunately, for three decades, the geographical dimension has been consistently hegemonic in Sudanese political [...]

The victory of retired general and former acting president Mohamed Ould Abelaziz in the 18 July presidential elections in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania is another slap in the face of the EU’s Africa policy, but a vindication of AU regional diplomacy forcing domestic opponents to sit together and hammer out an agreement.
If Commissioner Louis [...]

In this posting, Abd al-Wahab Abdalla responds to the comments and criticisms received.
Sudan is at the crossroads and we need to be fully cognizant which paths will lead us off the precipice. If we fail to pay attention to where we are going we will surely destroy ourselves.
I have been challenged on accountability for war [...]

The third part of my paper examines the international challenges to the dominant state-mercantile coalition in Sudan, and whether there is a genuine option of transformation of the state. If there is such an option it must begin with the economy and a decisive shift away from rent-seeking to investment in productive activities. The fetishization [...]

The second part of my paper examines the external challenges to the dominant state-mercantile coalition in Sudan, which arise from Sudanese groups excluded from the dominant coalition and from regional and international interests.
The state-mercantile seesaw suffers two weaknesses, each of them potentially fatal. One is its internal fractionalization which means it is constantly engaged in [...]

The Sudanese nation stands at the most momentous crossroads since its independence more than fifty years ago. The route chosen over the next twelve months will determine whether the Republic of the Sudan becomes a failed state, devouring itself in a frenzy of plunder and mayhem, or whether the progressive forces in the country succeed [...]

At a meeting in al Fashir last week, a civil society spokesman said, ‘we are tired, we have had enough.’ Sudanese civil and political leaders are visibly exhausted.
The President looks weary. The civil opposition leaders are ageing and even Sadiq al Mahdi’s legendary energy is running low. Of the Darfur rebel leaders, only Khalil [...]

Alex de Waal provides a much more coherent summary of my book The Right to Rule than I could have. I am glad that he picked up one of the core implicit messages of the book, namely an optimism about the possibilities of political action and an escape from political crisis. Political history is littered [...]