In National Dialogue in Sudan, a paper for the Sudan Democracy First Group, RVI Fellow Atta el-Battahani examines the successes and failures of  national dialogue in Sudan and South Sudan, from  1956 to 2012. He identifies a series of recurrent obstacles: the bad faith of the protagonists, the limited scope and inadequate implementation of political agreements, their lack of inclusiveness, and government constraints on freedom of information. Atta al-Battahani is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Khartoum and former Senior Adviser to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA). He is a co-author of Elections in Sudan: Learning from experience and other publications on the political process in Sudan.