On 12 September, the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates announced a breakthrough roadmap for ending the catastrophic war in Sudan. With the initiative already flagging, the four countries should urgently press the main belligerents toward peace talks.
Sudan’s horrific war, now well into its third year, has proven extraordinarily resistant to efforts at peacemaking. After a falling-out between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in early 2023, the country fell off a cliff into raging conflict and state collapse. The fortunes of the warring parties have ebbed and flowed, but those of the Sudanese people have only plummeted. The fighting has created the world’s biggest displacement crisis – some 12 million Sudanese have been forced from their homes – and pushed parts of the country into famine. Each time it appears that one side has the upper hand, external backers intervene on the other’s behalf to even up the battle with new weapons, technology and other support. Diplomacy aimed at ending the conflict has been limp and lacklustre – hampered by regional polarisation, poor coordination and the reluctance of a distracted United States to throw its weight behind a serious peace effort.
The question now is whether that could be about to change. <…>
https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sudan-united-states-egypt-saudi-arabia-united-arab-emirates/all-eyes-quad-how-us-and-its-partners-can-push-peace-sudan