6/10/2023 0 Comments Power to the people game![]() ![]() On the other side of the divide, Egypt - itself led by a general - is backing Sudan’s military and the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary force with close ties to the Kremlin, has reportedly offered weapons to the RSF while also working with Sudan’s military. In the past, the controversial fighting force had been involved in European Union efforts to control migration from Africa. Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates hired RSF fighters as mercenaries to fight on its behalf in Yemen in another civil war. But even as ordinary Sudanese people thronged the streets in protest, Western champions of democracy in the US and Europe paid lip service to those pleas instead of focusing on getting the army and the RSF to agree to a deal. They laid out a timeline for democratic elections, but then repeatedly took steps to make that process a non-starter. In 2021, that intent became even more obvious when they combined to orchestrate a coup against the civilian administration and formally took charge of the country. ![]() But it was clear from the beginning that both the military and the RSF were really interested in only splitting the spoils of power. In 2019, after a popular revolt forced the long-time ruler, Omar al-Bashir, to leave office, Sudan’s military and the RSF partnered to set up an interim administration with a nominally civilian government. But barely hidden beneath the surface of their tussle for control of Sudan is a familiar pattern that the world has seen in region after region: international players with their own strategic interests competing for influence in a troubled country by ignoring demands of local people. At the heart of Sudan’s latest crisis, in which more than 400 people have been killed, is an open conflict between the country’s military rulers and a notorious militia called the Rapid Support Forces that has been accused of major crimes in the Darfur region. Yet, these steps - while understandable - carry a deep sense of irony. As intense and bloody fighting continues on the streets of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, many nations, including the United States of America, its European partners and countries in the Middle East, are evacuating their citizens from the troubled African nation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |