The 2023 Sudanese Conflict: between Hybrid Actors and the Limits of International Law

Introduction

Since April 2023, Sudan has been engulfed in an intense armed conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Rapidly spreading from the capital, Khartoum, to the rest of the country, this war exemplifies the transformation of political violence in contemporary Africa and highlights the limits of international conflict management tools.

Strategically located at the crossroads of East Africa, the Sahel, and the Middle East, Sudan controls key Nile corridors and borders Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, Chad, and Libya. While this confers a pivotal role in regional trade, natural resources, and migration flows, it also exacerbates historical tensions between the Nile Valley center and marginalized peripheries, such as Darfur, Kordofan, and the Blue Nile. Persistent ethnic, regional, and economic divisions have fueled repeated cycles of conflict, including the secession of South Sudan in 2011, without establishing durable national unity.