On this episode of American Prestige: Mat Nashed on the state of Sudan’s ongoing civil war.
Demonstrators, holding banners and placards, gather to hold a solidarity rally for Sudan on November 22, 2025, in Berlin, Germany. (Halil Sagirkaya / Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Derek and journalist Mat Nashed assess the state of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, particularly the fall of Al-Fasher and the Rapid Support Forces’ consolidation of control across much of Darfur. They discuss the throughline from the 2003 genocide to today; the wider humanitarian catastrophe; the shifting battlefield in Kordofan; the growing role of drones; the RSF’s political gambits; the international dimension of the war, including the UAE’s backing of the RSF and the Sudanese army’s search for external patrons; and they examine why accountability remains elusive as Sudan’s rival powers continue a war that hurts civilians above all else.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Instagram.
Read Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s WSJ opinion piece.
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Derek and journalist Mat Nashed assess the state of Sudan’s ongoing civil war, particularly the fall of Al-Fasher and the Rapid Support Forces’ consolidation of control across much of Darfur. They discuss the through line from the 2003 genocide to today; the wider humanitarian catastrophe; the shifting battlefield in Kordofan; the growing role of drones; the RSF’s political gambits; the international dimension of the war, including the UAE’s backing of the RSF and the Sudanese army’s search for external patrons; and they examine why accountability remains elusive as Sudan’s rival powers continue a war that hurts civilians above all else.
Follow Mat on Twitter and Instagram.
Read Abdel Fattah al-Burhan’s WSJ opinion piece.
Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.
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.
I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords. In this week’s news: the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirms last month was tied for the hottest ever recorded (0:52); the Houthis/Ansar Allah take the port city of Mokha (1:45); the U.S. and Iran exchange ship attacks as oil prices rise (5:25); the IAEA refers Iran to the United Nations (7:32); Trump predicts an end to the Iran war immediately after the midterms (8:59); 12 countries ban products made in Israeli settlements (10:52); a new report alleges that Netanyahu ignored October 7 warnings and a chance to recover hostages (13:49); the IDF takes a strategic ridge in Lebanon, then escalates strikes (18:30); an arbitration court rules against India on the Indus Waters Treaty (20:49); new claims of famine emerge in Sudan’s Darfur region (23:05); the Nigerian government and Boko Haram maintain a ceasefire (24:59); the Trump administration phases out U.S. support for anti-AIDS programs in Namibia (27:21); American envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff visit Russia and Ukraine (29:22); Ukraine tries to close Russian airspace (31:20); and in a trade war update, Canadian tariffs on U.S. goods take effect (32:50).
Don't forget Derek's Substack, Foreign Exchanges.
Enjoy Danny's new Substack, Imperialist Realism.
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Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.
Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is a historian of US foreign relations and is the author of, among other books, Imperialist Realism.