By Stephen Zunes who thanks the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict for supporting his research.
NVI's longtime Director, Michael Beer, has provided advisory support for Dr. Zunes in his Sudan research.
Sudan’s Democratic Revolution is Being Undermined by the United States
Sunset over the Blue Nile river and downtown Khartoum with its Corinthia hotel and GNPOC Tower, Khartoum, Sudan (Photo Arik Alojants)
Last year’s nonviolent pro-democracy revolution in Sudan which brought down the brutal 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir and the subsequent military junta inspired the world. Few popular uprisings in history faced such extremely difficult circumstances and few displayed the kind of courage, tenacity, and effective strategy by pro-democracy activists which led to their victory.
Unfortunately, the United States has been pursuing policies which almost seem designed to destroy Sudan’s fragile democratic experiment.
Since August 2019, Sudan has been ruled by a sovereign council made up of six civilians and five members of the military, along with a cabinet of liberal civilian technocrats headed by Prime Minister Hamdok, a former economist with the United Nations. Elections are scheduled for 2022 to give time for civil society, decimated under the Bashir regime, to reemerge and strengthen. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and other rights have been restored.
For the democratic revolution to succeed, the civilian-led government must have legitimacy in the eyes of enough Sudanese.
The Sudanese people have twice before—in 1964 and then again in 1985—risen up in unarmed civil insurrections which toppled dictatorships and established democratic governance only to have the military again seize power several years later. Few people believe the military will not try again. For the democratic revolution to succeed, the civilian-led government must have sufficient legitimacy in the eyes of enough Sudanese for the people to be willing to defend it if threatened. Even if the military is unable to completely overthrow the civilian leadership, chronic economic problems could lead autocratic elements in the armed forces to further assert their influence within the ruling coalition.
A critical factor will be whether the civilian-led government is able to revive the economy which, even prior to the pandemic, was struggling with inflation, a weakening currency, and a foreign debt more than twice the country’s annual GDP. Jonas Horner, a Sudan specialist with the International Crisis group noted, “If the civilians within the government look like they are unable to respond to Sudan’s myriad problems, that leaves space for other actors to pour into the vacuum.”
The single biggest obstacle to Sudan’s economic recovery is the continued US economic sanctions.
The single biggest obstacle to Sudan’s economic recovery is the continued US economic sanctions, which—as is the case with U.S. sanctions against Iran—not only impacts trade with and investment from the United States, but from other countries and multilateral entities as well. Despite Sudan now being led by secular civilians inexorably opposed to terrorism and Salafist extremism, Washington still officially lists Sudan as a “state sponsor of terrorism.” Most absurdly, the United States is holding Sudan’s transitional government responsible for crimes committed by Al-Qaeda, not only when al-Bashir was providing the terrorist group sanctuary in Sudan between 1991 and 1996, but for terrorist attacks which took place in 1998 and 2000 after they had been expelled.
Prime Minister Hamdok, in an address before the UN General Assembly this past fall, noted: “The Sudanese people have never sponsored, nor were supportive of terrorism. On the contrary, those were the acts of the former regime which has been continuously resisted by the Sudanese people until its final ouster. These sanctions have played havoc on our people, causing them untold misery of all types and forms. We, in the transitional government, call on the United States of America to take Sudan off the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism and not to continue punishing the Sudanese people for the acts committed by that vicious regime, especially that our people have been victims of and courageously resistant to.”
Sudan’s inclusion as a state sponsor of terrorism requires the US to block loans from international financial institutions.
In addition to prohibiting any economic assistance, Sudan’s inclusion as a state sponsor of terrorism requires the United States to block loans and other assistance from such international financial institutions as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, prohibits US citizens from engaging in financial transactions with the government without approval of the Treasury Department, denies individuals or companies tax credit for income earned, and bans duty-free imports, among other restrictions.
Furthermore, if a country is on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, they no longer have diplomatic immunity from families of terrorist victims who file civil lawsuits in the United States. US policy is that the civilian government of Sudan must pay billions of dollars in compensation to these families in order to be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism regardless of the fact they no longer sponsor terrorism. The paradox for Sudan is that they can’t be immune from being sued as long as they are on the list and they can’t be removed from the list unless they pay damages from the lawsuits.
Sudan agreed to pay $30 million USD to the families of sailors on the USS Cole killed in a 2000 Al-Qaeda attack.
In one step towards getting themselves removed from the list, the government agreed to pay $30 million USD to the families of sailors on the USS Cole killed in a 2000 Al-Qaeda attack on the Navy destroyer in Aden Harbor, along with wounded survivors. More significantly, the United States has demanded that the civilian-led government pay up to $10.2 billion USD in compensatory and punitive damages for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, though negotiations are under way that could significantly lower the amount Sudan would need to pay.
Sudan’s projected budget revenue for 2020 is only $12.63 billion USD. The civilian-led government has few options, however. The International Monetary Fund ranks Sudan as the world’s 14th poorest country out of 186 nations. (Meanwhile, the United States – the world’s wealthiest country – refuses to pay compensation for crimes committed by its government against Iraq, Vietnam, or other countries, including Nicaragua, which the International Court of Justice ruled in 1986 that the United States needed to pay reparations for damages from attacks against its civilian infrastructure.)
Despite desperate needs in health, education, and infrastructure, as much as 70% of the country’s budget went to the armed forces.
Despite desperate needs in health, education, and infrastructure, as much as 70% of the country’s budget while under military rule went to the armed forces. With a huge backlog of domestic needs now facing the civilian government and a foreign debt more than twice its annual GDP, Sudan is still required to repay. It is hard to imagine how Sudan could afford to give this kind of money to the United States.
Punishing Sudanese for the crimes of others is nothing new. Following the 1998 embassy attacks, the United States bombed a large pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum North, falsely claiming it was a chemical weapons factory controlled by Al-Qaeda. While no one was killed in the precision nighttime missile attack, the destruction of the facility—which produced over half of Sudan’s vaccines and antibiotics—likely contributed to thousands of deaths in the subsequent months.
A critical factor in stabilizing civilian rule in Sudan is ending the rebellions in Darfur, the Blue Nile, and South Kordofan regions.
A critical factor in stabilizing civilian rule in Sudan is ending the rebellions in Darfur, the Blue Nile, and South Kordofan regions where tenuous ceasefires are now in place but frequently threaten to break down. There are many complicated factors to be worked out, but peace will also cost hundreds of millions of dollars in order to demobilize and reintegrate rebel fighters, reform the security sector, and provide economic support for these desperately poor regions, which the previous military regime spent huge sums to suppress but almost nothing to develop. Meanwhile, there are more than two million displaced people from these conflicts needing assistance. According to Magdi el-Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, “The great risk is that Sudan cannot even afford a peace process.”
Most immediately, ongoing US sanctions have made it difficult for the Sudanese to fight the coronavirus. In April, the World Bank approved a $1.9 million USD emergency fund for 25 developing counties along with plans to spend as much as $160 billion USD through mid-2021 to fight the pandemic. However, the US policy of vetoing international financial institutions from providing even humanitarian support forced the World Bank to exclude Sudan from this critical funding effort to fight the pandemic.
The US policy of vetoing humanitarian support forced the World Bank to exclude Sudan from its funding effort to fight the pandemic.
Cameron Hudson of the Atlantic Council has noted lifting the sanctions is a “crucial ingredient in Sudan’s long-term recovery and in its hopes of ushering in a civilian-led, democratic regime.” However, according to Hudson, the process of removing Sudan from the list of state sponsors of terrorism “involves an interlocking network of legislative processes, legal rulings, financial settlements, intelligence assessments, and, most of all, politics, to unwind this ultimate tool in America’s sanctions arsenal.”
To further punish Sudan’s efforts for a democratic transition, the United States announced in February that it was ending migration visas from Sudan, effectively making immigration from that country impossible.
Even prior to Trump, the United States has long supported autocratic regimes in both the Middle East and Africa.
Even prior to Trump, the United States has long supported autocratic regimes in both the Middle East and Africa and has maintained particularly close relations with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are strong supporters of the conservative military officers who ruled Sudan between Bashir’s ouster and the August 2019 agreement allowing for a civilian-led government, and whom many believe would still like to see the military regain control. A large bipartisan majority of the US Congress supports sending $1.7 billion USD annually to prop up the Sisi dictatorship in Egypt and supports large-scale subsidies for arms transfers and military training to the wealthy absolute monarchies in the Gulf, while refusing to provide any relief for the impoverished democratic Sudan.
The Sudanese not only suffered over 30 years of brutal dictatorship, the United States is effectively punishing them further for having overthrown that dictatorship. The Sudanese people are being held responsible for the crimes of a military regime against which millions struggled for decades at enormous sacrifice and finally succeeded in removing last year. The resulting economic crisis is crushing the optimism Inside Arabia reported on just a few months ago, on February 26.
It’s unclear why there is so much hostility coming out of Washington for Sudan’s democratic struggle. Trump’s fondness for authoritarians is well-known. Depicting Arab, African, and Middle Eastern countries as chronically violent and teeming with angry extremists with a propensity toward terrorism helps reinforce the perceived need for the United States to intervene militarily and to back authoritarian governments and occupation armies. Though there’s no direct evidence to suggest this is conscious policy, downplaying pro-democracy movements and undermining democratic governments does play a function in justifying such policies.
Perhaps acknowledging Arab, African, and Muslim peoples embracing a passionate desire for freedom and democracy doesn’t fit the Western narrative.
During a background briefing at the US embassy in Khartoum back in January, this writer got the strong impression from officials there that they assumed Sudan’s democratic experiment would fail, essentially seeing the country as too poor, too divided, and with too many problems to overcome through democratic governance. This underscores that perhaps acknowledging Arab, African, and Muslim peoples having agency, thinking strategically, engaging in effective nonviolent action, and embracing a passionate desire for freedom and democracy simply doesn’t fit into the Western narrative. Regardless of the motivation, the United States seems to be doing what it can to get this remarkable democratic experiment to fail.
It may be difficult to mobilize public opinion in the United States to force a change in policy amid the pandemic and ongoing struggles against racial injustice and other inequities domestically, yet international solidarity in support of the Sudanese people is no less important now than it was during their struggle against dictatorship.
Dr. Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he serves as coordinator of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Professor Zunes serves as a senior policy analyst for Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun.
For a quick post about a mural in Sudan thanking Stephen Zunes and NVI's longtime Executive Director Michael Beer, please see: https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/sudan_mural
Latest posts
April 2025
NVI Co-Director Michael Beer, vigiling to remind Holocaust Museum visitors to learn the Museum's lesson: Never Again for Anyone and therefore to stop US support for the genocide in Gaza.
See our Youtube video of April 2025 vigil here.
https://youtube.com/shorts/cyXPR7qXDP8?si=Bq_V_qcYRwkpxzVG
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January 2024 US Holocaust Memorial Museum Supporters Project “Stop the Genocide In Gaza” on Exterior
Check out this two minute video!
(Jonathan Kuttab in front of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum)
(Michael Beer calling for a ceasefire now)
(Marianne Ehrlich Ross, Holocaust survivor and Museum Supporter)
Michael Beer talked about this event on this podcast.
Timestamp 13:10
Nonviolence International Media Release
Date: January 4, 2024
Spokesperson: Michael Beer, 202 244 0951, [email protected]
US Holocaust Museum Supporters Show “Stop the Genocide In Gaza” on Exterior
Washington DC: Wednesday evening, supporters of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum projected photographs and slides on the exterior walls calling on the world to “Never Again” tolerate genocide for anyone. The photographs showed scenes of atrocities in Gaza with words saying “Stop the Genocide in Gaza” “Ceasefire Now” and “Silence=Death.”
“We are here to help fulfill the mission of the Holocaust Museum which is to ensure that ethnic cleansing and genocide never happens again for all people not just Jews” said organizer, Michael Beer, Director of Nonviolence International, himself a descendent of Holocaust victims. “As a an institution created by Congress”, he said, “the Museum has a special responsibility to speak up against genocide in Gaza, in part, because US weapons and support are involved.”
The projection on two western walls of the Museum follows a tradition of anti-genocide images on the Museum with regards to Darfur and internal exhibits regarding the Rohingya.
Helping with the projection was Marianne Ehrlich Ross, a Holocaust survivor, and long time supporter of the Museum, who spoke about her experience being expelled from Vienna, then Prague, and then being stranded in England during the war. She is shocked that Israel, with US support, is engaging in ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, and asked the Museum to not be silent on the present war on the Palestinian people - or anyone else.
Explaining the pictures of destruction and suffering in Gaza, Jonathan Kuttab, Director of Friends of Sabeel North America, spoke about his experience of Palestinians suffering from expulsion, occupation and murder on a vast scale. He spoke to the horrors of the Holocaust in Europe and said that “it is tragic that the Jewish state is perpetrating ethnic cleansing, war crimes and genocide.” Kuttab, a renowned International human rights lawyer, said “the Genocide Convention is clearly being openly violated by Israel and the US. I call on the Museum to live up to its stated mission which is to prevent and oppose genocide across the whole world.”
Scott Weinstein, a health care provider, spoke in French and English as a Canadian Jew, saying that the Israeli government’s genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians is causing more anti-Semitism. “The October 7th attacks against Israel came about partially as a response to generations of Israeli abuse and that this should be a wake up call for the need for justice for Palestinians, not revenge.”
In 1993, Beer and Starhawk organized a large alternative opening ceremony for the Museum urging the inclusion of the persecution and extermination of homosexual and bisexual men which the Museum promptly did. Beer and Starhawk sent an open letter in November, 2023 calling on the Museum replicate its 1993 inclusive response and to again fulfill its mission to end genocide against all people. Beer said “we stated on this Museum plaza then and today, “Silence=Death”.
This action was endorsed by Nonviolence International, Jewish Voice for Peace-DC Metro, and Friends of Sabeel North America. A video of the event can be found here.
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November 10, 2023
Letter to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Silence = Death
Dear US Holocaust Memorial Council Chair, Stuart E. Eizenstat,
The huge pogrom attack on Jewish communities near Gaza, and revenge attack on 2.2 million Palestinian Gazan residents raises the painful question – What can and should the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) do now? The Holocaust Museum has shown years of leadership as it seeks to inspire “citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity.” The Museum also memorializes the experience of Jews and the cancer of anti-Semitism and humanizes other victim communities of the Holocaust.
The Museum has come a long way. We organized an alternative opening ceremony of the Holocaust Museum in 1993 because the official ceremony explicitly excluded Gay/Bi/Lesbian people (homosexuals). Within the year, the Museum embraced the pink triangle Holocaust story and doubled down on its inclusion of other victim groups such as the Roma, people with disabilities, Slavs and others. To ensure that the Museum maintains its contemporary relevance, it created the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide whose purpose is genocide prevention, crisis response, justice and accountability. Recently, the Museum’s exhibition on the genocide of the Rohingya was a strong political statement and superbly presented.
Last month, the museum (on the Press Room webpage) condemned the horrific attacks on Israel and Jews by Hamas on October 7th and then released a statement in defense of the State of Israel. Yet, when it comes to genocidal threats and the attack on 2.2 million Palestinian people, (not to mention scores of Jewish pogroms on many communities in the West Bank), the Holocaust Museum website appears to be silent. Setting the bombing (and 10,000 deaths) aside, halting water, food, medicine and fuel to an entire population is barbaric and genocidal. The fact that this is being done by a Jewish state is doubly tragic and ironic.
Attacks on Palestinian civilians and the death of thousands of children will not make Israel safe; it will only foster more anger and resentment. Only a just resolution of the conflict can assure true peace for Israel and Palestine alike.
At the alternative opening ceremony in 1993, we laid a pink triangle flower arrangement on the Museum Plaza with a black and white sign that read “Silence = Death.” This referenced the silence of the Museum toward Gay & Bisexual men as well as the silence of policy makers and society towards a generation of Gay & Bisexual men who died unnecessarily from AIDS.
Will the Museum speak up for a Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and humanitarian assistance for all? Will it help decision-makers, the military, and the public work to prevent genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians now and in the longer term?
The mission of the Holocaust Museum should be universal, not one primarily based in the exceptionalism of Jews. There is an urgent and dramatic opportunity for the Holocaust Museum to elevate its mission of Never Again. Silence in this case means death for countless Palestinian people.
Shalom,
Michael Beer
Starhawk
Michael Beer serves as the Director of Nonviolence International and author of Civil Resistance Tactics of the 21st Century.
Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism.
The letter contents are the personal views of the Director of NVI and co-author Starhawk, and not necessarily the views of the Organization.
Downloadable PDF Version
Picture from Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR)
On April 18, 2025, I stood with 24 fellow activists in a powerful interfaith act of witness outside Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It was Good Friday—a day that, within Christian tradition, remembers Jesus’ death, and its embodiment of loving sacrifice, nonviolence, and the call to justice. Together, we gathered not just as individuals, but as a united front of people of conscience, representing a broad array of faith-based groups, to speak out against war and the machinery that fuels it.
Over two hundred people of faith and conscience gathered for the demonstration, organized by the Brandywine Peace Community, Red Letter Christians and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, which brought together voices from Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, and Quaker communities—each bringing their own prayers, chants, and sacred presence. We marked the day with songs of peace, solemn reflection, and the tolling of bells as we moved in silent procession toward the entrance of the largest weapons manufacturer in the world.
Lockheed Martin is deeply enmeshed in global militarization, producing weapons used in conflicts from Ukraine to Yemen to Gaza. Our action specifically called attention to the company’s role in the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where U.S.-supplied bombs, drones, and F-35 fighter jets have played a devastating role.
Crossing onto company property was a deliberate, nonviolent act of moral resistance. We did so not to break the law for its own sake, but to confront a deeper injustice—the normalization of war as business. The arrests that followed were expected. What mattered most was bearing public witness: a collective cry for peace, an urgent call to end the arms trade, and a plea for a just future.
This Good Friday action was not isolated. It was part of a growing wave of faith-based and grassroots resistance across the country, echoing the calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and a transformation of U.S. foreign policy. As people of faith, we believe our sacred texts compel us to speak out—and to act—when human life and dignity are under assault.
We left the Lockheed gates in handcuffs, but with our heads held high. Our hope is not in weapons, but in solidarity, compassion, and the courage of community. The work continues.
“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.“
Marcel Proust
“To be outstanding leaders and achieve exceptional results, we have to change the way we think about the world and about what is possible.”
Miki Walleczek
“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”
Albert Einstein
Sami Awad giving a NLD training in Palestine, 2010
Are you in a leadership position but find yourself struggling to move forward efficiently and effectively?
Are you an activist striving to make a difference but feel stuck?
Do you want to have a breakthrough and lead with more clarity and confidence?
Are you seeking to achieve greater results in your life and for those around you?
Join Nonviolence International in the launch of their first online training program to develop strong and effective leadership in order to face the challenges we are facing in the world today.
The first session will take place on April 26th, at 11AM ET / 6pm Jerusalem time and we will have sessions for 6 consecutive weeks, with exception of May 10th.
Nonlinear Leadership Development promotes leadership paradigms that inspire leaders to think beyond traditional frameworks, by empowering individuals and communities to navigate complexities, embrace innovation, and drive positive change.
What is the Nonlinear Leadership Development Program?
It is a deep personal development program to enhance inner skills of leadership. The purpose of the program is to provide leaders with the tools that help them make the impossible possible at the level of their personal life, their work, community, and for their country.
The unique contribution of the nonlinear methodology is that it begins at the individual level, providing a methodology that can successfully put people in touch with their innate leadership potential by unleashing their self-responsibility, creativity, intelligence and commitment, and by giving them a voice and direct access to action through nonlinear thinking and the power of language.
Participants start by creating the visions and strategies for leadership within themselves - understanding what it means to be a leader - and then from there they move on to serving the larger community. Furthermore, this methodology is designed to ensure sustainability through the building of a dynamic, growing network of self-organising communities.
This approach emphasizes distinguishing between interpretations and facts, enabling individuals to move beyond past traumas and make decisions aligned with future possibilities. By adopting NLT, participants are encouraged to engage in deep self-reflection, challenge existing mindsets, and cultivate self-awareness, thereby fostering environments where teams can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.
The training will be provided by our co-director, Sami Awad.
What will you learn?
- Deal effectively with breakdowns and problems on the personal, professional, community and national levels.
- Build relationships of mutual trust and respect.
- Deal effectively with what’s happening here and now.
- Build powerful networks to support you in the future.
- Create a bold future which is informed by, and honours the past, but is independent from the past.
- Accomplish breakthrough results.
- Have effective, purposeful meetings which support you in delivering on intended results.
- Understand the power and importance of creating and managing context.
What will you accomplish?
- You will get access to powerful action and result oriented language.
- You will get access to nonlinear tools that can be applied in different dimensions.
- You will unlock yourself from the constraints of the past.
- You will create a future for yourself, family and community that will be inspiring and transforming.
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You will build growing dynamic networks of self organising communities which give voice to making the impossible possible.
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You will engage in the phenomena of nonlinearity, self organisation, and emergence.
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You will ask yourself: “what allows for self responsibility?”
- You will get a clear vision on decision making.
What are the requirements to participate in the training program?
- Leaders committed to a future founded on the principles of nonviolence, justice, equality and peace within society and in relation to others.
- Leaders who want to have a breakthrough in their lives.
- Leaders who want to engage in making the impossible possible in their lives.
- Leaders who are ready to challenge what they know in order to create new opportunities.
- Be open and interested in learning, especially different approaches to leadership.
- Commit to all sessions.
- Selection-based process, since the attendance for this training is limited to a maximum of 25 participants, ensuring an exclusive and unique learning experience.
- The full training program costs $600, however, our organization is committed to making this training accessible to everyone who feels they need it and is ready to fully commit. Therefore, we welcome voluntary contributions based on each participant's ability to give.
To apply, please fill in the following form: APPLY NOW
Join us on April 23, for a webinar that delves into current Syrian realities and the impact of sanctions. Our experts include long time Syrian human rights leader Bassam Ishak, Syrian-American politician and lawyer Dima Moussa, NVI Board Chair Rafif Jouejati (now in Syria), and our NVI Co-Director Michael Beer who has just returned from Syria.
Guests will share their thoughts— and those of the people they represent - on what rebuilding the nation and fostering reconciliation, unity, and justice look like. This discussion will shed light on the paths to recovery and the steps needed to ensure sustainable stability, dignity, and hope for millions of Syrians.
This webinar is a unique opportunity to gain deep insights from sources who have played an important part in the struggle against tyranny and who offer valuable knowledge so you, as part of the global family committed to peace and justice, can contribute to Syria’s bright future.
Don’t miss out—register now to be part of this important conversation!
You can RSVP to attend this webinar via our sign-up page here!