Vladimir Putin has a history of flattening cities in time of conflict. But alleged war crimes in Chechnya and Syria never resulted in charges, let alone prosecutions. Will Ukraine be any different?
Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe greets supporters massed at his party headquarters shortly before his ouster in 2017.
Jekesai Njikizana/AFP via Getty Images
Leaders typically spread power among their ‘rival allies’ to keep it and co-opt enough of those elites in exchange for political support.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok (foreground centre) and Sovereign Council chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (right) tour the armed forces general command in Khartoum.
Photo by Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images
Sudan’s new government came to power after a people-driven process to oust former President Omar al-Bashir. It must be careful to place ordinary Sudanese at the centre of the reforms process.
A Sudanese demonstrator at a protest in the capital Khartoum.
Ashraf Shazily/AFP via Getty Images
The people are frustrated with a reform agenda that is unfolding at snail’s pace.
Sudanese protesters gather to mark the first anniversary of a raid on an anti-government sit-in, in the Riyadh district in the east of the capital Khartoum on June 3, 2020.
(Photo by Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images)
Remaining nonviolent despite enormous provocation made it difficult for the regime to depict the movement in a negative light
Sudanese protestors celebrate a deal with the ruling generals on a new governing body, in the capital Khartoum, recently.
Ashraf Shazly/AFP via Getty Images)
The African Union’s staunch support for al-Bashir, cloaked in criticism of the International Criminal Court, denied justice to the millions affected by the conflict in Sudan.
Sudanese protesting against the conflict in Darfur.
Marwan Ali/EPA-EFE
Taking Sudan off America’s list of terror is just one step in the country’s journey to economic recovery
Sudan’s ousted President Omar al-Bashir appears in court in Khartoum on December 14, 2019. He was later sentenced to two years in prison for corruption.
Photo by Mahmoud Hajaj/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
When the establishment retains some leverage over reformers change can be slow, superficial, and short-lived. Sudan appears to be a textbook case of this scenario.
In this Sunday, June 9, 2019 frame grab from Sudan TV, Lt. Gen. Jamaleddine Omar, from the ruling military council, speaks on a broadcast.
SUDAN TV via AP
History shows that when government elites believe that there is a risk that they may lose control of the capital, they escalate targeted violence against civilians.
Supporters of Sudan’s military rulers rally in Khartoum.
EPA-EFE-Marwan Ali
Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs and Visiting Professor University of Buckingham, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs