A protest movement in Sudan is posing the biggest challenge to the genocidal regime of Omar al Bashir in decades. The protests began just before Christmas, ostensibly over an increase in the price of bread. They quickly — and unexpectedly spread.
The long ruling regime has responded to these protests with violence. But nevertheless, these protests persist.
On the line with me to discuss the origins of this protest movement, how it spread and whether or not it may take down the nearly thirty year reign of Omar al Bashir is Professor Zachariah Cherian Mampilly of Vassar College.
We discuss the origins of the Sudanese regime, and what has made the rule of Omar al Bashir so enduring. We discuss the origins of this protest movement, and how it may evolve over the coming months and weeks.
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If you have 20 minutes and want to understand this growing protest movement in authoritarian Sudan, then have a listen.
About Zachariah Cherian Mampilly
Zachariah Mampilly is a Professor of Political Science and International Studies at Vassar College. In 2012/2013, he was a Fulbright Visiting Professor at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is the author of Rebel Rulers: Insurgent Governance and Civilian Life during War(Cornell U. Press 2011), and Africa Uprising: Popular Protest and Political Change (Zed Press, 2015), co-written with Adam Branch. Mampilly teaches courses on civil wars and rebel movements; race, ethnicity and nationalism; and the international relations of the Third World.