Sudan
Recommended Reading—Atar
The contributors for MER Issue 310 have relied on their own experiences in Sudan, their personal networks and a few important news sources to inform their grounded analyses. One of these sources that drew the editors’ attention is Atar: a Sudanese publication...‘The Scent of Human Barbecue!’—A Poem by Al-Saddiq Al-Raddi
Born and raised in Omdurman Khartoum, Al Saddiq Al-Raddi is one of the leading African poets writing in Arabic today. Al-Raddi served as the cultural editor of Al-Sudani newspaper from 2006 until 2012, when he was stripped of his position during an uprising against...An Interview with William Carter, Sudan Country Director for the Norwegian Refugee Council
The war in Sudan that began in April 2023 has led to a reckoning among humanitarian aid organizations. As international organizations have struggled to alleviate the diverse, complex crises facing people across the country, locally led initiatives and mutual aid...Leveraging Humanitarian Aid in Wartime Sudan
The war has imposed gut-wrenching choices on the Sudanese people. Since the fighting broke out, millions have fled the capital city to different states within Sudan. Over 1.5 million have escaped the country altogether. Their patterns of movement reflect...Dispatch from Nyala, Sudan’s Second City
The battle for Nyala—Sudan’s second largest city and the capital of South Darfur state—was a turning point in the current war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). When the SAF’s garrison in Nyala fell to the RSF on October 26,...Land, Livestock and Darfur’s ‘Culture Wars’
How austerity politics and the changing environment have fueled war in Sudan.
Khartoum’s Women Street Vendor Cooperatives and the Politics of Care
The everyday activism of Sudan’s women-led worker cooperatives.
The Struggle for Sudan
A Primer.
A Note on the Cover Image
The cover image for MER issue 310 features an ink on paper drawing from Galal Yousif’s “Forgotten Crisis Series 2024.” Galal Yousif is a Sudanese artist who lived and worked in Khartoum until June 2023 when, like many others, he was forced to flee. As of the date of...Land, Livestock and Darfur’s ‘Culture Wars’
How austerity politics and the changing environment have fueled war in Sudan.
At Any Cost—The War in Sudan and Europe’s Flawed Migration Policies
The current conflict in Sudan reveals the deep flaws in EU border regimes.
Animating Sudanese History—An Interview with Leila Aboulela, Author of River Spirit
Historian Marie Grace Brown speaks to Leila Abouleila about her new novel, River Spirit.
Black Markets in Sudan—An Interview with Khalid Mustafa Medani
In September 2022, Khalid Mustafa Medani, a former contributor to Middle East Report, received the Best Book prize from the American Political Science Association’s Middle East and North African Politics section for his 2021 release, Black Markets and Militants:...The Challenge in Sudanese Women’s Football
Women’s football in Sudan has grown significantly since the 2000s, with more than 720 players and 21 teams now participating in the women’s national league. Yet attitudes toward women’s play vary across the country, with many footballers facing religious condemnation, social stigmatization, police harassment and even arrest. Players also point to “gender washing” by the Sudanese Football Association, an organization that diverts funds dedicated to developing women’s football from international bodies like FIFA. Based on interviews with women football players in Khartoum, Sara Al-Hassan and Deen Sharp highlight the challenges to women’s pursuit of the beautiful game, and their tenacity in continuing to play.
The Challenge in Sudanese Women’s Football
Women’s football in Sudan has grown significantly since the 2000s, with more than 720 players and 21 teams now participating in the women’s national league. Yet attitudes toward women’s play vary across the country, with many footballers facing religious condemnation, social stigmatization, police harassment and even arrest. Players also point to “gender washing” by the Sudanese Football Association, an organization that diverts funds dedicated to developing women’s football from international bodies like FIFA. Based on interviews with women football players in Khartoum, Sara Al-Hassan and Deen Sharp highlight the challenges to women’s pursuit of the beautiful game, and their tenacity in continuing to play.
Sudanese Migrants’ Labor in Times of Economic Crisis and Revolution
“I have worked so much,” Hamze told me, laughing, “It’s all the same.” Hamze grew up working on his parents’ land in Gezira, two hours south of Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. Gezira is known for its fertile land and irrigation-based agrarian production but, like many...The Evolution of Sudan’s Popular Political Forces
On January 30, 2011, a protest took place in Sudan’s capital Khartoum. Inspired by uprisings in other parts of the Arabic-speaking world, such as Tunisia and Egypt, activists announced and promoted the planned demonstration using social media platforms. The protesters demanded significant change: They called for the ouster of President Omar al-Bashir, an end to corruption and high prices for basic goods and they chanted against “the government of hunger.” Their grievances resembled those that ignited the large-scale uprisings of the Arab Spring, but the number of protesters did not exceed 500, not in this protest nor in the few that followed until the end of March. No one factor—the nature of the active political base, the level of oppression or economic realities—can on its own explain why the protest wave that spring did not gain momentum in Sudan.
Mahmoud, The Sudanese Bourgeoisie
Fatima Babiker Mahmoud, a prominent intellectual and a lecturer in political economy at the University of Khartoum, presents here much new material for a cogent analysis of the political and economic role of the bourgeoisie in Sudan’s development from 1898 to the present. In her view, the origins, affiliations and strategies of the highest echelons of the Sudanese capitalist class show its clear links to British colonial capital and continued ties with international capital. As a result, Sudan’s bourgeoisie, a dependent and “comprador” class, has failed to contribute to the country’s development, and even has acted as an obstacle to it.
Letter from a Devastated Land
I arrived in Khartoum on April 15, nine days after the coup, as soon as the borders opened. In Cairo, I had watched film clips of the noisy, jubilant crowds that had brought down Numairi, but Khartoum was eerily silent now. The high of the revolution” had given way to the sense of crisis that once again grips this country. While political skirmishes went on concerning who would be in the civilian cabinet, the abiding, bedrock realities that pervaded the country were the civil war in the south and the drought and famine in the west and northeast.
George Bush in Khartoum
Khartoum. The hand-painted sign on Nile Avenue here best captured the attitude of urban Sudanese toward the visit of Vice President George Bush to their country in early March, just four weeks before the popular overthrow of President Ja‘far Numairi. “Vice-President and Mrs. Bush,” read the sign, “are mostly welcome.” The millions of Sudanese starving in the countryside would have been much less hospitable.
