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Commentary
The Wall Street Journal

In Sudan, Another "Democracy" Push Fails

The US tried to impose a "transition." The local players were a lot more practical.

walter_russell_mead
walter_russell_mead
Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship
Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum, Sudan on April 19, 2023. (Photo by Ahmed Satti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Caption
Smoke rises during clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum, Sudan, on April 19, 2023. (Ahmed Satti/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

As the skies over Khartoum filled with the smoke of artillery blasts, and as American diplomats evacuated the Sudanese capital, yet another American-supported “transition to democracy” seemed to be ending in chaos and civil war.

Nothing about the collapse should come as a surprise. Judging from the success rate of American democracy efforts in the Middle East and North Africa in the past 15 years, a blind hamster has a better chance of building a nuclear submarine than the State Department had of orchestrating a democratic transition in Khartoum.

Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.