Sudan & South Sudan

The value would have been that the Sudanese civilians would have seen [U.S.] actions match our words, in terms of trying to promote a civilian-led democratic transition. Refraining from imposing any punitive steps on generals bought time, but it didn’t buy us the type of goodwill from them to really promote a civilian transition.

The overall impression is this is a power struggle between [Sudanese generals] Hemedti, Burhan, and their institutions that would have been very difficult for any country alone or in concert to prevent, when each sees the other as an existential threat.