Sudan is at a crossroads. In April, popular protests in Khartoum lead to the ouster of the country’s longtime ruler, Omar al Bashir. He was toppled in a coup by military leaders.  But the peaceful protests did not stop. Rather, the protesters held their ground and rallied outside the headquarters of the military junta demanding that civilians — not the military  — lead the transition to democracy.

The standoff between the military council and civilian protesters held firm until early June, when a paramilitary group known as the Rapid support forces, or RSF, attacked the protesters, killing over 100. The protests were dispersed and a general strike ensued.

On the line with me to discuss the situation in Sudan is Zachariah Cherian Mampilly, a professor of political science at Vassar College. We last spoke in early January, just as the protest movement was beginning to pick up steam. That is where we pick up the story today. We kick off discussing the circumstances that lead to the ouster of Sudan’s longtime ruler Omar al Bashir and then have a longer conversation about the political and geo-political dynamics that are shaping events in one of Africa’s largest and most strategically significant countries.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn about the ongoing crisis in Sudan, the protests in Khartoum, and how this situation may evolve, have a listen.

Get the Global Dispatches Podcast

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Google Play Music​  | Radio Public

What’s up first?

The protests began in December, initially triggered by a tremendous spark in the cost of bread. The protests accumulated strength and their demands shifted from a reduction in bread prices to the fall of the regime itself. In April, after four months of protests and a massive number in the capital of Khartoum, the military forced Bashir to give up the presidency and he was placed under house arrest. Since then, there has been a transitional military council largely comprised of generals and commanders who were close to the Bashir regime. There is a stalemate between the leaders of the transitional military council and the protest movement, who instead of retreating, only increased their presence in front of military headquarters.

Protestors have been able to greatly increase pressure. 

The Sudanese protestors have learned a lot from the history of Sudan and from failed transitions in places like Egypt. So, what you see are very resilient and inspirational protestors who will not settle for less than a fully civilian-led transition to democracy. That is why the stakes are so high. 

At the time of recording, roughly 200 people have been killed. What led to this crackdown?

The key figure here is a man named Hemeti, the second in command in the military council. He has a long history in Sudan. He was the commander who was put in charge by Bashir to establish the paramilitary force known as the Janjaweed, which in the mid 2000’s was accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. Hemeti’s hands have been dirty for two decades now. His status in the military demonstrates that the military is not a legitimate partner for a democratic transition.

In terms of this specific crackdown, once the War in Darfur was largely pacified, the Janjaweed moved to Khartoum and took on a different name of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). They operate independently of the national military. Hemeti essentially controls a private militia force and is the prime mover behind the latest crackdown. It is his forces, the RSF, orchestrating the terror in the streets of Khartoum.

The RSF are accused of human rights abuses in the southern part of Sudan as well.

They have basically been the force that does the military’s dirty work around the country. RSF is kind of a proxy force that can be deployed to do all of these ugly things without tainting the Sudanese military, which is really a false distinction, but one that the military insists upon.  

The military hoped the departure of Bashir in April would satisfy the protestors. The negotiations continued for two months, but in the end, protestors were demanding that civilians be allowed to oversee the transition to democracy. That was a non-starter and the talks came to a halt. Sudan has since been in a state of limbo. When the talks broke down, the violence escalated. The RSF was given free rein to go break up camps where protestors had been converging.

The protest movement has moved underground and has been organizing a general strike.

The previous protest camp had become a tremendous site of creativity where people converged and were hosting concerts, educational activities, and more to spread the word. There were innovative things occurring –like the Occupy Wall Street movement, but at a larger scale. It is devastating to see the site now.

We should not assume that this is the end of the protest movement. There is a general strike and Khartoum is at a standstill. Businesses are not open and services are not being provided.

How do you assess the role of the influence of outside powers?

Saudi Arabia’s role has been abominable. The Saudi regime has given the Sudanese military the green light to engage in the crackdown like they orchestrated last year. The military in Sudan does not have a lot of popular support. Whatever credibility it had evaporated as a result of the violence it has orchestrated. Saudi Arabia has an ongoing relationship with the RSF and has funded them for quite some time now. 

No major western power has done much to push back against the Saudis. Further, the Russians and Chinese have prevented discussion over this crisis in the UN Security Council.

What could the US do?

The US has tremendous leverage over the Saudis. However, it is hard to see under the current Trump administration, that the US would condemn the behavior of the Saudis. The African Union (AU) has tried to lend support to the protestors, but the AU right now is headed by the Egyptians so that support is questionable. However, to their credit, they have condemned the regime for the massacres of last week.  

Can you talk about how you see the protest movement strategy changing in this new era?

There are a couple of trajectories. Amongst the organizers there is a strong desire to retain the non-violent character of the movement so far. The risk is that people may feel there is no other option than to turn towards violence. There are a number of opposition groups who have stayed out of the protest so far but could be mobilized to use violence.

These sorts of movements are about building counter-power to the existing regime. On that level, the Sudanese protestors are going far beyond what the Egyptian or Syrian protestors could accomplish.

Lastly, are there any key inflection points that you see down the road that would suggest what the next iteration of this crisis will be? 

The big question is the economic situation. The regime has been able to persist with external support from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, but the economy has come to a standstill and there is very little production going on. That means the regime will face an economic crisis in the near future. It is important to remember that the initial trigger for the protest was the decline in performance of the Sudanese economy. The economy was already fragile, so now to be dealing with a large scale protest movement, it is unclear how much longer the regime can go forward, unless outside actors massively increased the support they are offering. Saudi Arabia would have to keep its financial pipeline open.

There are a number of factors for why Saudi Arabia is interested in Sudan. One is, Saudi Arabia has massive investments in Sudan’s agricultural sector and has been trying to use Sudan as a breadbasket for the country. It is not simply about autocrats trying to prop each other up, but there are financial considerations as well. 

Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play Radio, Radio Public. 

Shownotes by Lydia DeFelice

In 2003, before the US invasion of Iraq, there were an estimated 1.2 million Christians living there. Today, that number is less than 250,000 — an eighty percent drop in less than two decades.

If this trend continues, a religious minority that has been in Iraq for centuries will be gone entirely.

A recent article in The Atlantic by reporter Emma Green describes the plight of Iraq’s Chaldean Catholic community and the incredible pressure that they have been under since the fall of Saddam. This not only includes ISIS’s reign of terror, but day-to-day discrimination against Christians that is causing so many to seek to leave the country.

Emma Green is a staff writer at The Atlantic covering policy, politics and religion. We kick off discussing the history of Christianity before having a broader conversation about the causes and consequences of the fact that a religious minority is fleeing Iraq in droves.

The plight of Iraq’s Christians has key geo-political consequences as well as serving as an indicator of the healthiness and strength of Iraqi democracy itself. This conversation explains why what happens to Christians in Iraq matters to the entire world.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn why the persecution of Christians in Iraq has global implications, have a listen.

Get the Global Dispatches Podcast

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Google Play Music​  | Radio Public

***Become a Premium Subscriber. Support the Show. Access Rewards. ***

Over the course of six years of running this podcast, I have interviewed hundreds of astounding people who have lived fascinating lives and had storied careers in international affairs. This includes foreign ministers, diplomats, famous academics, journalists, social entrepreneurs and more. I’ve decided to collect the very best of these interviews and offer them exclusively to premium subscribers. 

I have already posted several of these interviews Premium Subscribers unlock the growing archive of these unforgettable interviews. Each week, I will be posting one or two of these episodes, exclusively for premium subscribers.  

Syrian regime forces, backed by Russia, have scaled up their attacks in what is the last part of Syria controlled by rebel forces.

Over the last several weeks an estimated 140,000 people have been displaced by escalating fighting in Idlib, Syria. This is the last remaining rebel held territory in Syria. As regime forces re-captured parts of Syria under rebel control, rebels and their families fled to Idlib, which the key players in the conflict agreed would be a “de-escalation zone.”

There are now 3 million people in Idlib. Most are displaced and the vast majority are civilian non-combatants. But there are also al Qaeda affiliated militants and other jihadis mixed in with the population.

The situation in extremely precarious right now as it seems that a deal between Turkey and Russia to prevent an assault on Idlib is breaking down.

My guest today, Dareen Khalifa is the senior Syria analyst with the International Crisis Group. She explains this escalating crisis and what the situation in Idlib says about the broader trajectory and trends of the Syria conflict. This includes some key geo-political forces that are now very much driving events on the ground.

The escalating fighting in Idlib is a powerful reminder that the conflict in Syria continues to drag on even as international attention is fading.

If you have 20 minutes and want to understand how the conflict in Syria is evolving, have a listen.

Get the Global Dispatches Podcast

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Google Play Music​  | Radio Public

The second worst Ebola outbreak in history is currently unfolding in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since August last year there have been nearly 1,000 confirmed cases and over 600 deaths.

The DRC is a very large country and these cases are so far confined to the eastern part of the country. This is also the region of the Democratic Republic of Congo that has long been mired in conflict and insecurity. In recent weeks, Ebola treatment centers have been attacked forcing medical staff to suspend operations. Meanwhile, new ebola cases are confirmed on a nearly daily basis.

On the line to discuss is Karin Huster, the field coordinator for Medicins Sans Frontiers/Doctors Without Border in the DRC.  She spoke to me from the city of Goma, the largest city in the eastern part of the DRC.  We kick off discussing recent attacks on two Ebola treatment centers run by Doctors Without Borders, and then have a longer conversation about the trajectory of this outbreak and what can be done to halt its spread.

One thing that comes though in this conversation is that this outbreak is not under control. Karin Hester explains why the current strategy has not be able to stop the transmission of Ebola and explains how this outbreak can be halted.

The Ebola outbreak in DRC has fallen from the headlines. This episode provides you with a grounds-eye view of why this outbreak continues to fester.

Get Global Dispatches Podcast to Listen Later

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Google Play Music​  | Radio Public

Getting bitten by a poisonous snake is not just an individual injury — rather it is now recognized as a global health hazard.  The World Health Organization estimates that between 80,000 and 136,000 people die from snakebite in each year. To put that in perspective, that is more than the number of people who died from Meningitis and within the range of the number of people who died from Measles.

Getting bitten by a poisonous snake, or “snakebite envenoming,” is now included in the WHO’s list of Neglected Tropical Disease

On the line with me is one of the world’s leading experts on Snakebite, Dr. Gabriel Alcoba. He is a pediatrician who has treated snakebite as a doctor with MSF, Doctors Without Borders. He is also a public health expert who works with the Geneva University hospitals.

This episode provides a very good introduction to snakebite as a global health hazard. Dr. Alcoba explains the link between poverty and injury and death from snakebite and why the pharmaceutical industry has been somewhat slow to develop proper anti-venoms.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn how snakebite affects people around the world, have a listen

Get Global Dispatches Podcast to Listen Later

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |  Stitcher  | Google Play Music​  | Radio Public

Two new scientific papers show how climate change is affecting species of coffee plants in Africa, Australia and Asia. The findings of these research studies have big implications for coffee drinkers, coffee producers and everyone else involved in this massive global industry.

At issues is the survivability of what is known as “wild coffee.” These are some 124 species of coffee that grow naturally in forests in coffee growing climates of Africa, Asia and Australia.

Most coffee consumers do not drink coffee from wild species. Rather, we drink two species, Arabica and Robusta, that are not currently threatened with extinction. But the fate of the massive worldwide coffee industries that have formed around Arabica and Robusta are closely linked to that of wild coffee. If wild coffee continues on its trajectory toward extinction, the gene pool from which Robusta and Arabica can draw to adapt in the face of evolutionary threats will dry up. That means coffee itself may become a threatened species of plant.

Dr. Aaron Davis is Senior Research Leader and head of Coffee Research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He was involved in both of these papers. He explains the link between wild coffee and climate change, and why having wild coffee is necessary for the long term viability of the coffee we consumers drink.

We kick off talking more generally about the science of coffee before having a longer conversation about the broader broader social and economic implications of his research into climate change and coffee excitation.

If you have 20 minutes and want to learn how climate change is affecting coffee production, have a listen.

Get Global Dispatches Podcast

​iTunes  |  Spotify  |   Stitcher  | Google Play Music​

References

Davis, A.P., Chadburn, H., Moat, J., O’Sullivan, R., Hargreaves, S. & Lughadha, E.N. (2019). High extinction risk for wild coffee species and implications for coffee sector sustainability. Science Advances, 5 : eaav3473. Available online

Moat, J., Gole, T.W. & Davis, A.P. (2018). Least concern to endangered: Applying climate change projections profoundly influences the extinction risk assessment for wild Arabica coffee. Gobal Change Biology, 1-14. Available online.

The IUCN Red List – to view the assessments mentioned, search Coffea.