The Rachman Review

Episode: Sudan: inside the world’s worst humanitarian crisis
Date: January 15, 2026
Host: Gideon Rachman (Financial Times)
Guests: Khouloud Khayya (Director, Confluence Advisory) and Alex de Waal (Director, World Peace Foundation, Tufts University)

Overview

In this episode, Gideon Rachman explores the catastrophic situation in Sudan, regarded by the UN as the world's worst humanitarian crisis. He’s joined by Khouloud Khayya and Alex de Waal, both experts on Sudan, to discuss the ongoing civil war, the unprecedented atrocities (including up to 100,000 killed in a single massacre), the complex political and military landscape, and the international neglect that has allowed the crisis to escalate. They examine whether there is hope for peace and what a resolution might require.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Scale and Nature of the Crisis

• Sudan's Catastrophe:

  • Three years of relentless warfare have led to the displacement of millions and widespread hunger (01:30).
  • 70% of Sudan's population—approximately 30 million people—require urgent aid (01:33).
  • Huge camps for displaced people are scattered across the country, especially in Darfur.

• Al Fashir Massacre:

  • The capture and subsequent massacre in Al Fashir by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) marked a horrific turning point, albeit one that only briefly grabbed global attention (02:01).
  • Estimates for the death toll range from 5,000 to possibly 100,000, but the true figure is unknown due to data scarcity and governance collapse (04:58).

  “The UN recently was able to, for the first time, go to Al Fashir since pretty much the beginning of the war. And they say it looks like a crime scene.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [06:07]

2. Current State of the Conflict

• Dynamic Stalemate:

  • The conflict is a “dynamic stalemate” with shifting frontlines—mostly in the Kordofans and Darfur—heavily contested by both sides (02:50, 03:46).
  • The Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, hold the east, north, and central areas including Khartoum; the RSF now controls much of Darfur and parts of Kordofan.

• Collapse into Anarchy:

  • The war has led to a “generalized decay of any form of governance, a collapse of much of the country into what we could characterize as anarchy.”
    —Alex de Waal [03:52]

3. Nature of Atrocities

• Ethnically Targeted Violence:

  • RSF and allied militias carried out what Khayya brands “genocidal violence” in Al Fashir, displaying “a culture of impunity” and targeting specific ethnic groups, notably the Zarawa (06:07, 06:49).
  • Atrocities were often broadcast by the perpetrators themselves on social media.

  “We saw much of the violence that they committed from their own videos, from their own live feeds that they then posted on social media...how callous a lot of their actions were and how targeted some of them, particularly ethnically speaking.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [06:07]

• A New Form of Mercenary/Nihilistic Violence:

  • Alex de Waal describes the RSF as a hybrid between a mercenary enterprise and revolutionary nihilism, drawing comparisons to 19th-century slave traders where “human life was meaningless except insofar as they could accrue power and wealth” (08:39).

  “There is a spirit of cruelty. An idea that simply by the exercise of violence at this scale, they will create a completely new reality for Sudan.”
  —Alex de Waal [07:49]

4. International Response (or Lack Thereof)

• Neglect from the World:

  • Despite the scale—larger than crises like Ukraine or Gaza—there is little sustained international attention or intervention, partially attributed to geopolitical disinterest in African crises and desensitization due to violence in other parts of the world (10:01).

  “The international system has become very immune to the scale of violence that we have seen...especially when atrocities are happening in Africa.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [10:01]

• Humanitarian Collapse:

  • Famine has been consistently present for 18 months; half the population needs food aid, a quarter are homeless, health services are decimated, and funding cuts—especially from the US—have exacerbated the situation (11:24).

5. Local Survival and Positive Innovations

• Emergency Response Rooms (ERRs):

  • The only somewhat functioning "state" is a network of local volunteer groups, rooted in Sudanese tradition (nafir), tracing their origins to the civilian committees that led protests against the previous regime (13:09).
  • These grassroots organizations are providing essential services, evacuations, and even some measure of security.

  “I would argue that they might be the only thing keeping…what we know as Sudan together.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [14:18]

6. Responsibility of Both Warring Sides

• Not Simply “Good vs. Evil”:
  • The SAF, despite being recognized by the UN, is itself responsible for atrocities, especially ethnic cleansing in Jazeera and denial of famine documentation (14:39).
  • Historically, the SAF “has exclusively fought its own people” and now positions itself as a lesser evil—despite having enabled the RSF in the first place (14:39).

7. Foreign Involvement and Regional Politics

• Fueling the War:

  • The UAE is the RSF’s main supporter (weapons, finance, diplomacy), although it officially denies this; Egypt, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia back the SAF (17:12).
  • The conflict is enmeshed in a larger Saudi-UAE rivalry, with ramifications across the Red Sea and wider region (17:12, 21:16).

  “Sudan is embroiled in the rivalry across the greater Middle East between the Saudis and the Emiratis…One part of this strategic jigsaw, this rivalry.”
  —Alex de Waal [17:12]

• Global Power Disinterest:

  • There’s little political motivation from the US or Europe to pressure Gulf states—Sudan does not register as a top priority, even after Al Fashir (19:12, 21:16).

  “Sudan just does not feature in the top five, sometimes top 10 agenda items when these world leaders meet. And I don’t think Al Fashir has shifted that.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [21:16]

8. Barriers to Peace and Potential Solutions

• Peace Is Always Politically Mediated:

  • Sudan’s history shows wars end with political settlements, not military victory—but peace deals often lay groundwork for future conflicts by entrenching militarism instead of resolving root grievances (24:58).

  “Unless you end militarism in Sudan as the founding principle of government…you’re not going to be able to end the kinds of wars that we have seen.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [24:58]

• Civil Society’s Potential:

  • There are building blocks for civilian government from the post-2018 revolution landscape, but international appetite for supporting such a transition is lacking (24:58).

  “Only through answering those questions will we actually get a peace agreement that can 1) hold and 2) actually stop a further conflict from arising.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [27:15]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On RSF atrocities:

  “No less disturbing than the numbers is what we see in those videos, which is the relish, the glee with which those fighters torment, torture and murder the people in their captivity.”
  —Alex de Waal [07:49]

• On the international reaction to Al Fashir:

  “We heard a lot of ‘this can’t go on, this shouldn’t happen on our watch’ from governments, and then nothing.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [10:01]

• On grassroots resilience:

  “They are the only, I would say the only thing right now that is keeping people alive, that is able to evacuate people, helping women and others who have been raped. They are effectively modeling the state in every way by providing services, by providing security.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [13:09]

• On the risks of external, superficial interventions:

  “You get actually a new form of political contestation that is then solidified in a peace agreement.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [23:50]

• Hope for the future:

  “We do have these civil society organizations, we have these civilian coalitions and entities within the country and outside of the country now in the diaspora because of the mass displacement... they are working hard at answering some of these questions about how do we build a civilian state where everyone can be equal.”
  —Khouloud Khayya [24:58]

Important Timestamps

• Start of episode/purpose: [00:36]
• Sudan’s humanitarian scale: [01:30–02:01]
• Current frontlines explained: [02:50]
• Intensity and anarchy of conflict: [03:52]
• Detail on Al Fashir massacre: [04:58–07:47]
• RSF as a new sort of mercenary force: [08:39]
• International neglect and negligence: [10:01–11:24]
• Famine and humanitarian disaster: [11:24]
• Emergency Response Rooms/localization: [13:09]
• Atrocities by both sides: [14:39]
• Foreign intervention and regional dynamics: [17:12–21:16]
• Barriers to peace and lessons from history: [24:58]

Conclusion

The episode offers a deeply sobering but nuanced overview of Sudan’s collapse into starvation, violence, and state failure. Both Khouloud Khayya and Alex de Waal stress the critical role of local resilience—particularly volunteer networks like the Emergency Response Rooms—while painting a damning picture of international neglect. They highlight that, unless external powers prioritize Sudan and peace efforts tackle deeper, systemic militarism, the violence is likely to continue. Yet, the seeds of a better future—rooted in Sudan’s 2018 revolution and civil society—still exist, however fragile.

For listeners and readers:
The crisis in Sudan, as depicted here, is not just another faraway war but a vast, multifaceted human tragedy—one that is both neglected and enabled by global indifference, and that desperately requires fresh diplomatic, humanitarian, and political urgency.