November 15, 2025 | View in Browser

Good morning,

At each stage of Sudan’s deepening catastrophe, I’ve been reminded of Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood’s explanation of the geopolitics behind it. The more than two-year-long civil war is back in international headlines this week after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces captured El Fasher, the capital of the Darfur region, following a horrific siege. Sudan is now home to what may be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Ero and Atwood’s essay, from 2023, shows how regional power politics created the conditions for the country’s war, and with the complex forces they described still in play—including meddling by “an ever-larger cast of outside actors”—their assessment is just as valuable to readers today.

Until next week,

Dan Kurtz-Phelan

Editor, Foreign Affairs

Sudan and the New Age of Conflict

How Regional Power Politics Are Fueling Deadly Wars

By Comfort Ero and Richard Atwood

PS: In case you missed the podcast this week, my interview with Robert O’Brien is available to listen here.

Northwestern MA in Public Policy & Administration — online or campus

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