The Past, Present, and Future of the War In Sudan
On this episode of American Prestige, Khalid Medani on the conflict in Sudan.

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On this episode of American Prestige, Danny and Derek welcome to the podcast Khalid Medani—associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University—for a deep dive into the conflict that has engulfed Sudan since last Spring. They delve into its roots going back to the 1989 coup, break down the makeup of the primary combatants (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces), how these groups are able to continue recruiting and maintain support networks, the conflict’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis and regional effects, foreign mercenaries and whether it has become a proxy war, efforts of local civil leaders to quell the fighting, and what things might look like moving forward.
As Khalid noted, two places to which he recommends you donate are the Sudanese Doctors Union or the Sudan Solidarity Collective.
Some of Khalid’s recent work:
- “The Struggle for Sudan” from Middle East Report’s Spring 2024 issue is a primer on Sudan.
- Middle East Research and Information Project’s Spring 2024 issue has multiple contributors, including Khalid, writing about the conflict.
- His book Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa, which is free via Open Access.
- “Opinion: The brutal conflict in Sudan is not a civil war. It’s a war on civilians” from The Globe and Mail.
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A man stands by as a fire rages in a livestock market area in al-Fasher, the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state, on September 1, 2023, in the aftermath of bombardment by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
(AFP via Getty Images)On this episode of American Prestige, we welcome Khalid Medani—associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University—for a deep dive into the conflict that has engulfed Sudan since last Spring. They delve into its roots going back to the 1989 coup, break down the makeup of the primary combatants (the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces), how these groups are able to continue recruiting and maintain support networks, the conflict’s catastrophic humanitarian crisis and regional effects, foreign mercenaries and whether it has become a proxy war, efforts of local civil leaders to quell the fighting, and what things might look like moving forward.
As Khalid noted, two places to which he recommends you donate are the Sudanese Doctors Union or the Sudan Solidarity Collective.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
Metallica says they stay out of politics, so Danny and Derek are reassessing their approach to the show. In this week’s news: Navi Pillay wins the Nobel Peace Prize, angering Trump (3:51); Ansar Allah strikes Saudi airports and oil facilities (7:58) while fighting continues on multiple fronts in Yemen (11:35); attacks on commercial ships escalate near the Strait of Hormuz (13:45), and the U.S. prepares a new bombing campaign against Iran (15:59); Israeli forces kill at least eight people in Gaza on the first anniversary of the “ceasefire” as the Palestinian Authority postpones elections until at least September 2027 (19:12); in southern Lebanon, Israeli forces demolish dozens of towns and villages (22:22); China’s trade surplus grows at a record pace (24:04); Egyptian drone strikes kill at least 72 gold miners in Sudan (25:43); Ethiopian forces advance toward the Eritrean border (28:20); former Congolese president Joseph Kabila forms a new rebel coalition with M23 (31:38) as the country’s Ebola outbreak surpasses 9,000 confirmed cases (33:27); Trump suspends sanctions on Russian diesel exports and clashes with Zelensky (34:24); Trump declares a Russia-Ukraine energy ceasefire that fails to take hold as Ukraine reports several days without Western intelligence on Russian airstrikes (37:40); Ukrainian forces report temporary restrictions on Starlink service (38:52); and the U.S. seeks control of frozen Russian assets held in Europe (43:07).
Don’t forget to pre-order Welcome to the Crusades: The Second Crusade with promo code CRUSADES15 for 15% off. Offer is valid through October 27!
More of Danny’s work at Imperialist Realism.
More of Derek’s work at Foreign Exchanges.
Catch a replay of last night’s livestream.
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