What Went Wrong in Sudan?

00:05:31
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1oysYDEeDM

Zusammenfassung

TLDRThe video discusses the tumultuous political history of Sudan, characterized by repeated coup attempts every decade over the past 60 years. The instability stems from a mix of colonial legacies, foreign interventions, and persistent civil wars which have compounded economic struggles. Colonial-era policies of divide and rule created deep-seated ethnic and social divisions, laying the groundwork for future conflicts. After gaining independence in 1956, Sudan's strategic geopolitical location attracted foreign powers, escalating internal armed conflicts and worsening ethnic tensions. US sanctions and the loss of oil-rich South Sudan further strained the economy. The most recent coup in 2021 highlights ongoing resistance from the people who demand a move towards democratic governance despite the military's grip on power.

Mitbringsel

  • 🔄 Sudan has experienced coups every decade for 60 years.
  • 🇬🇧 British colonial rule set the stage for future conflicts.
  • 💣 Foreign powers fueled internal conflicts with arms deals.
  • 🇸🇸 Independence of South Sudan crippled Sudan's economy.
  • 🚫 US sanctions isolated Sudan from global trade.
  • 📉 Economy worsens due to conflicts and loss of resources.
  • 🪖 Military seized power in a coup in 2021.
  • 📢 People protest for democratic governance.
  • 🛑 Ethnic and social tensions persist due to historical legacies.
  • 📈 Political instability exacerbates economic challenges.

Zeitleiste

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Sudan has experienced a coup nearly every decade for the past 60 years, with the latest in October 2021 when the military seized power. The ongoing political instability is deeply rooted in Sudan's history of economic hardships, divisive colonial rule by the British, and foreign interventions from various global powers. Colonial tactics of divide and rule, geopolitical importance, and the superpowers' involvement have led to prolonged civil wars and social tensions.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:00

    Sudan's troubles continued post-independence in 1956, exacerbated by its geopolitical importance, ethnic tensions, and foreign arms supply during the Cold War. The nation endured two devastating civil wars within 11 years, resulting in millions of deaths and displacements. Exploitative colonial foundations and external sanctions, particularly from the U.S., alongside South Sudan's secession further crippled Sudan's economy, worsening instability and poverty.

  • 00:10:00 - 00:05:31

    The economic struggles continued with U.S. sanctions until 2017 and were not alleviated by the secession of oil-rich South Sudan in 2011, resulting in significant poverty. Pro-democracy movements faced setbacks despite ousting Omar al-Bashir in 2019, due to the persistent military grip on power. The relentless cycle of coups, particularly the one in 2021, reflect Sudan's complex challenges with foreign meddling, internal conflict, and popular resistance for democratic governance.

Mind Map

Video-Fragen und Antworten

  • What events have contributed to Sudan's political instability?

    Sudan's political instability is rooted in its colonial past, foreign interventions, civil wars, and economic challenges.

  • How did colonial rule impact Sudan?

    British colonial rule created socioeconomic tensions through divide and rule tactics, privileging the North over the South, which led to future conflicts.

  • What role did foreign intervention play in Sudan?

    Foreign interventions, including arms sales from global superpowers like the US and Soviet Union, exacerbated Sudan's internal conflicts.

  • Why is Sudan often called 'Africa's arms dump'?

    During the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union armed local proxies in Sudan, leading to heavy militarization.

  • How did the independence of South Sudan affect Sudan?

    The secession of South Sudan resulted in Sudan losing 75% of its oil reserves, severely impacting its economy.

  • What were some consequences of US sanctions on Sudan?

    The sanctions isolated Sudan from international trade, limiting access to essential goods and contributing to poverty.

  • What happened during the 2021 coup in Sudan?

    Sudan's military seized power, leading to protests demanding civilian rule, against a backdrop of longstanding political and economic issues.

  • What is the people's reaction to military rule in Sudan?

    Many Sudanese are advocating for removal of military power and establishing a civilian government through democratic elections.

  • How did Sudan's economy suffer over the years?

    Economic woes were exacerbated by colonial exploitation, armed conflicts, lost oil revenue after South Sudan's independence, and international sanctions.

  • What are some of Sudan's post-independence challenges?

    Sudan faced multiple civil wars, economic challenges, foreign interventions, and failed governance transitions.

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Untertitel
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Automatisches Blättern:
  • 00:00:00
    Imagine living through a coup attempt every decade for the past 60 years.
  • 00:00:04
    That's exactly what's happened in Sudan,
  • 00:00:07
    the northeastern African state with more than 40 million people.
  • 00:00:11
    In October 2021, thousands of people flooded the streets
  • 00:00:15
    after the military seized power in another coup.
  • 00:00:19
    So what's gone wrong?
  • 00:00:21
    The most important thing to understand is that
  • 00:00:24
    Sudan's economic hardships and political instability didn't happen on their own.
  • 00:00:28
    It didn't happen out of a vacuum.
  • 00:00:30
    You have Sudan, it's plagued by
  • 00:00:32
    a number of civil wars throughout the time,
  • 00:00:35
    from its time of its independence.
  • 00:00:37
    You have a lack of unity.
  • 00:00:39
    You have different superpowers
  • 00:00:41
    that are getting involved.
  • 00:00:42
    Ah, yes, foreign intervention.
  • 00:00:45
    First, it was the British Empire.
  • 00:00:47
    The British colonized Sudan
  • 00:00:48
    at the turn of the 20th century,
  • 00:00:50
    sharing colonial control with Egypt,
  • 00:00:52
    which was subordinate to Britain.
  • 00:00:53
    British colonialists invested heavily in the north, while Egypt ruled over the south.
  • 00:00:58
    Britain put northern leaders in positions of authority,
  • 00:01:01
    modernized schools and encouraged Islam.
  • 00:01:04
    While in the south, British rulers scattered power among hundreds of tribal leaders,
  • 00:01:09
    and Christian missionaries ran the education system.
  • 00:01:12
    This colonial tactic of divide and rule created socioeconomic tensions
  • 00:01:16
    that played a role in Sudan's future conflicts.
  • 00:01:19
    And then it culminated with
  • 00:01:20
    these various civil wars
  • 00:01:21
    that occurred throughout the history of Sudan.
  • 00:01:23
    Sudan gained independence from British colonial rule in 1956,
  • 00:01:27
    but its troubles didn't end there.
  • 00:01:29
    As part of the Horn of Africa,
  • 00:01:32
    Sudan was extremely important in geopolitics.
  • 00:01:34
    Injections of weapons from world superpowers, including the United States,
  • 00:01:39
    aggravated existing class, ethnic and religious tensions.
  • 00:01:43
    In fact, Sudan has often been dubbed as, quote,
  • 00:01:47
    “Africa's arms dump.”
  • 00:01:48
    During the Cold War, Sudan was one of many countries ravaged by the U.S. and Soviet Union,
  • 00:01:54
    waging war via local proxies.
  • 00:01:56
    The U.S. alone sold
  • 00:01:58
    Sudanese governments nearly $1 billion in arms during that time.
  • 00:02:01
    And today, Sudan is one of Russia's biggest customers on the African continent.
  • 00:02:06
    So Sudan inherited colonial-engineered ethnic tension
  • 00:02:09
    and was armed by countries eyeing Sudan's geopolitical importance.
  • 00:02:13
    And that's why it's not a coincidence that armed conflicts
  • 00:02:15
    have consistently flared up in Sudan.
  • 00:02:18
    Since gaining independence,
  • 00:02:20
    Sudan went through two civil wars
  • 00:02:22
    just 11 years apart,
  • 00:02:23
    the second of which
  • 00:02:24
    left around 2 million people dead
  • 00:02:27
    and more than 4 million displaced.
  • 00:02:29
    Government backed militia groups
  • 00:02:30
    massacred countless Darfuri civilians in 2003
  • 00:02:34
    after anti-government armed groups
  • 00:02:36
    began fighting the state.
  • 00:02:37
    All this political instability meant the economy was going to struggle,
  • 00:02:41
    which in turn only worsened the political instability.
  • 00:02:45
    A bad foundation set by exploitative colonial practices and frequent armed conflicts
  • 00:02:51
    was already hampering Sudan's economic development.
  • 00:02:54
    U.S. sanctions and the independence of South Sudan
  • 00:02:58
    added more challenges in managing the economy.
  • 00:03:00
    In 1997,
  • 00:03:02
    the U.S. placed debilitating sanctions on Sudan
  • 00:03:04
    after labeling it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
  • 00:03:08
    Based on false claims that a pharmaceutical factory was producing
  • 00:03:11
    chemical weapons for al Qaeda,
  • 00:03:12
    the U.S. bombed the factory in Khartoum, Sudan's capital.
  • 00:03:16
    The 20-year sanctions cut Sudan off from most international trade.
  • 00:03:21
    Essential items like health care equipment and airplane parts became inaccessible.
  • 00:03:25
    Down, down, U.S.A.!
  • 00:03:29
    In 2011, after the long haul of the second civil war,
  • 00:03:32
    South Sudan gained independence.
  • 00:03:35
    The secession of South Sudan meant that Sudan lost
  • 00:03:38
    an estimated 75% of its oil reserves and a huge chunk of its income.
  • 00:03:42
    It's therefore no surprise that 36% of Sudan's population were thought
  • 00:03:47
    to be living in poverty in 2014.
  • 00:03:49
    The U.S. did eventually lift sanctions in 2017,
  • 00:03:52
    but in the shadow of the sanction’s long lasting effects,
  • 00:03:55
    life for many Sudanese people didn't improve.
  • 00:03:58
    In 2019, the Sudanese military
  • 00:04:01
    took control after protests
  • 00:04:02
    swept across the country
  • 00:04:04
    due to rising food and fuel prices.
  • 00:04:07
    Omar al-Bashir, a military-backed ruler who stayed in power for 30 years, was overthrown.
  • 00:04:12
    But pro-democracy groups couldn't force the military out of power.
  • 00:04:16
    Civilian leaders and military heads were supposed to co-govern the country
  • 00:04:20
    until 2023 to run a democratic election
  • 00:04:23
    and transition to a completely civilian-led government.
  • 00:04:26
    But the deteriorating economy and COVID pandemic made things even harder.
  • 00:04:31
    Protests broke out calling for military reform and full civilian rule.
  • 00:04:35
    But like more than a dozen times before, the military took over
  • 00:04:39
    and dissolved the transitional government.
  • 00:04:41
    With foreign intervention,
  • 00:04:43
    historical ethnic tension,
  • 00:04:45
    heavily armed conflict
  • 00:04:46
    and economic struggle,
  • 00:04:48
    the 2021 coup has thrown Sudan into another wave of uncertainty,
  • 00:04:52
    but also into another wave of resistance.
  • 00:04:56
    The people should have the power.
  • 00:04:57
    The people have taken to the streets. The people are voicing their displeasure.
  • 00:05:00
    For the most part, the people themselves are
  • 00:05:02
    truly interested in
  • 00:05:03
    removing the military from power and having
  • 00:05:06
    democratic elections and
  • 00:05:07
    having a civilian government.
  • 00:05:08
    So the people themselves actually need to
  • 00:05:11
    run the government,
  • 00:05:12
    be in charge of their own fate.
  • 00:05:14
    Because for so long,
  • 00:05:15
    they have not been able to. They've been denied this.
  • 00:10:58
    Imagine living through coup attempts every decade for the past 60 years.
  • 00:11:03
    That's exactly what's happened in Sudan.
  • 00:11:06
    The northeastern African state with more than 40 million people.
  • 00:11:10
    In October 2021, thousands of people flooded the streets
  • 00:11:14
    after the military seized power in another coup.
  • 00:11:18
    So what's gone wrong?
  • 00:11:20
    The most important thing to understand is that
  • 00:11:23
    Sudan's economic hardships and political instability didn't happen on their own.
  • 00:11:27
    It didn't happen out of a vacuum.
  • 00:11:29
    You have the Sudan, it's plagued by
  • 00:11:31
    a number of civil wars throughout the time,
  • 00:11:34
    from its time of its independence.
  • 00:11:36
    You have a lack of unity.
  • 00:11:38
    You have different superpowers
  • 00:11:40
    that are getting involved.
  • 00:11:41
    Oh, yes, foreign intervention.
  • 00:11:43
    First, it was the British Empire.
  • 00:11:46
    The British colonized Sudan
  • 00:11:47
    at the turn of the 20th century,
  • 00:11:48
    sharing colonial control with Egypt,
  • 00:11:50
    which was subordinate to Britain.
  • 00:11:52
    British colonialists invested heavily in the north, while Egypt ruled over the south.
  • 00:11:57
    Britain put northern leaders in positions of authority,
  • 00:12:00
    modernize schools and encouraged Islam,
  • 00:12:03
    while in the south, British rulers scattered power among hundreds of tribal leaders
  • 00:12:08
    and Christian missionaries ran the education system.
  • 00:12:10
    This colonial tactic of divide and rule created socioeconomic tensions
  • 00:12:15
    that played a role in Sudan's future conflicts.
  • 00:12:18
    And that culminated with these various civil wars
  • 00:12:20
    that occurred throughout the history of Sudan.
  • 00:12:22
    Sudan gained independence from British colonial rule in 1956,
  • 00:12:26
    but its troubles didn't end there.
  • 00:12:28
    As part of the Horn of Africa.
  • 00:12:30
    Sudan was extremely important in geopolitics.
  • 00:12:33
    Injections of weapons from world superpowers, including the United States,
  • 00:12:38
    aggravated existing class ethnic and religious tensions.
  • 00:12:42
    In fact, Sudan has often been dubbed as, quote,
  • 00:12:45
    “Africa's arms dump.”
  • 00:12:47
    During the Cold War, Sudan was one of many countries ravaged by the U.S. and Soviet Union,
  • 00:12:53
    waging war via local proxies.
  • 00:12:55
    The U.S. alone sold
  • 00:12:57
    Sudanese governments nearly $1 billion in arms during that time.
  • 00:13:00
    And today, Sudan is one of Russia's biggest customers on the African continent.
  • 00:13:04
    So Sudan inherited colonial-engineered ethnic tension
  • 00:13:08
    and was armed by countries eyeing Sudan's geopolitical importance.
  • 00:13:12
    And that's why it's not a coincidence that armed conflicts
  • 00:13:14
    have consistently flared up in Sudan.
  • 00:13:17
    Since gaining independence,
  • 00:13:18
    Sudan went through two civil wars
  • 00:13:20
    just eleven years apart,
  • 00:13:22
    the second of which
  • 00:13:23
    left around 2 million people dead
  • 00:13:26
    and more than 4 million displaced.
  • 00:13:28
    Government backed militia groups
  • 00:13:29
    massacred countless Darfuri civilians in 2003
  • 00:13:33
    after anti-government armed groups
  • 00:13:35
    began fighting the state.
  • 00:13:36
    All this political instability meant the economy was going to struggle,
  • 00:13:40
    which in turn only worsened the political instability.
  • 00:13:44
    A bad foundation set by exploitative colonial practices and frequent armed conflicts
  • 00:13:50
    was already hampering Sudan's economic development.
  • 00:13:53
    US sanctions and the independence of South Sudan
  • 00:13:56
    added more challenges in managing the economy.
  • 00:13:59
    In 1997,
  • 00:14:00
    the US placed debilitating sanctions on Sudan
  • 00:14:03
    after labeling it as a state sponsor of terrorism.
  • 00:14:06
    Based on false claims that a pharmaceutical factory was producing
  • 00:14:09
    chemical weapons for al Qaeda,
  • 00:14:11
    the US bombed the factory in Khartoum, Sudan's capital.
  • 00:14:15
    The 20 year sanctions cut Sudan off from most international trade.
  • 00:14:19
    Essential items like health care equipment and airplane parts became inaccessible.
  • 00:14:24
    Down, down, U.S.A.!
  • 00:14:28
    In 2011, after the long haul of the second civil war,
  • 00:14:31
    South Sudan gained independence.
  • 00:14:34
    The secession of South Sudan meant that Sudan lost
  • 00:14:36
    an estimated 75% of its oil reserves and a huge chunk of its income.
  • 00:14:41
    It's therefore no surprise that 36% of Sudan's population were thought
  • 00:14:45
    to be living in poverty in 2014.
  • 00:14:48
    The US did eventually lift sanctions in 2017,
  • 00:14:51
    but in the shadow of the sanction’s long lasting effects,
  • 00:14:53
    life for many Sudanese people didn't improve.
  • 00:14:57
    In 2019, the Sudanese military
  • 00:15:00
    took control after protests
  • 00:15:01
    swept across the country
  • 00:15:03
    due to rising food and fuel prices.
  • 00:15:06
    Omar al-Bashir, a military backed ruler who stayed in power for 30 years was overthrown.
  • 00:15:11
    But pro-democracy groups couldn't force the military out of power.
  • 00:15:15
    Civilian leaders and military heads were supposed to govern the country
  • 00:15:18
    until 2023 to run a democratic election
  • 00:15:22
    and transition to a completely civilian led government.
  • 00:15:25
    But the deteriorating economy and COVID pandemic made things even harder.
  • 00:15:30
    Protests broke out calling for military reform and full civilian rule.
  • 00:15:34
    But like more than a dozen times before, the military took over
  • 00:15:38
    and dissolved the transitional government.
  • 00:15:40
    With foreign intervention,
  • 00:15:42
    historical ethnic tension,
  • 00:15:44
    heavily armed conflict
  • 00:15:45
    and economic struggle.
  • 00:15:46
    The 2021 coup has thrown Sudan into another wave of uncertainty,
  • 00:15:51
    but also into another wave of resistance.
  • 00:15:55
    The people should have the power.
  • 00:15:56
    The people have taken to the streets. The people are voicing their displeasure.
  • 00:15:59
    For the most part that people themselves are
  • 00:16:01
    truly interested in
  • 00:16:02
    removing the military from power and having
  • 00:16:05
    democratic elections and
  • 00:16:06
    having a civilian government.
  • 00:16:07
    So the people themselves actually need to
  • 00:16:10
    run the government
  • 00:16:11
    be in charge of their own fate,
  • 00:16:13
    because for so long,
  • 00:16:14
    they have not been able to, they've been denied this.
Tags
  • Sudan
  • Coup
  • Political Instability
  • Colonialism
  • Foreign Intervention
  • Civil War
  • Economic Struggles
  • Sanctions
  • South Sudan
  • Democracy Movement