This paper focuses on the origins and the political and military objectives of the two main internal actors – the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) — in Sudan’s ongoing conflict.

In Sudan, the revolutionary upsurge of 2018/2019 signalled the implosion of the country’s postcolonial political order. The political parties of old have seen their social bases wither away and their ideological hold over the Sudanese people corrode under the sustained pressure of a hyper-extractive political economy. The so-called ‘transitional period’ that followed the overthrow of President…

بدأت أهمية دول الخليج، ولا سيما السعودية، والإمارات، وقطر، في شؤون دول القرن الأفريقي تتزايد منذ عام 2015 تقريبًأ. كما عززت تركيا من وجودها في المنطقة منذ أن اتخذت خيارًا سياسيًا قبل ما يقرب من عقدين بـ"الانفتاح على إفريقيا". لم تكن منطقة القرن الأفريقي على رأس أولويات السياسة الخارجية لدول الخليج أو تركيا، لكن قربها الجغرافي جعل منها اهتمامًا ثابتًا، لا سيما من منظور الأمن (البحري). يدخل…

The articles in this volume of the Somaliland Peace and Development Journal discuss fundamental issues that have an impact directly on global citizens. While the articles carry diverse issues that affect both citizens and states, addressing the challenges presented in the body of the articles are also important.

This synthesis paper is designed to inform future policy making and programming in relation to Ethiopian government and international support to refugees. Specifically, it aspires to enable the development of a common narrative among the key refugee stakeholders in Ethiopia about how best to support displacement and durable solutions processes in the country, informed by evidence drawn from…

In May 2001, Somaliland’s citizens went to the polls to approve an interim constitution in a public referendum coordinated by the Government of Somaliland. The constitution called for multi-party politics and democratic elections. Since then, Somaliland has held a series of contested elections at different levels: local, parliamentary and presidential. Elections have become a familiar…

As a secondary city, the competitive advantage of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia is location. It is the closest large city to the port of Djibouti, making it an important transit hub for international migration via Djibouti and Somalia to the Gulf States and Europe. Whether migrants end up staying in Dire Dawa or migrating onward depends on their experiences in the city’s labour market and their initial…

RVI Fellow Douglas Johnson discussed the implications of South Sudan’s independence for the new nation’s history, historiography, and sense of identity in his keynote lecture to the 9th International South Sudan and Sudan Studies Conference in Bonn in July 2012. Describing South Sudan as ‘a missing piece in the jigsaw of Africa’s past’, he offered a robust critique of the various outside…

The war in South Kordofan, Sudan, that began in May 2011 followed a disputed election for the governorship of the state, an election endorsed by international and national election observers. This study argues that that there were significant deficiencies on the part of the observation missions. Irregularities were underplayed and critical lessons from Sudan’s past electoral history were…