Jacobin Radio Long Reads: The Sudanese Catastrophe w/ Joshua Craze
Feb 25, 2026
Joshua Craze, writer and analyst of Sudan and South Sudan politics, discusses the capture of El Fasher and the massacre that followed. He traces Sudan’s post-2019 political shifts, the showdown between the Rapid Support Forces and the army, and how a war economy, regional powers, and grassroots networks shape the catastrophe.
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Food Sovereignty Was Central And Neglected
- Sudan's political economy cycles from cotton to oil to gold but remained a primary-commodity producer, blocking industrialisation and food sovereignty.
- State predation, land grabs and desertification made famine a political tool of war.
Foreign Patrons Shaped Sudan's Armed Forces
- External patrons shaped Sudanese power: Egypt backed the army; Qatar, Iran, UAE funded militias and infrastructure, and the Gulf sought farmland and strategic access.
- Those external ties later fed the 2023 war's dynamics and proxies.
Deep Organised Grassroots Shaped The Uprising
- Sudan's long communist, trade union and feminist traditions helped form horizontal resistance committees that were grassroots, anonymous and mutual-aid oriented.
- Those committees connected urban poor and periphery demands, unlike many Arab Spring movements.