Why the Islamic Revolution Ended: The Regional Politics of Sudan since 1989

This essay examines the Islamic movement's role in shaping Sudan's regional relations and politics, particularly in the greater Horn of Africa. The focus is on the competing foreign policies adopted by the Islamic regime in Khartoum in 1989 and the extent to which the radical Islamic or the national interest agenda prevailed. Moreover, the essay emphasizes the extent to which the internal power struggle between Sudan's most powerful men, Omar al-Bashir and Hassan al-Turabi, determined the country's foreign policy rationale. Since 1996, Turabi's international Islamist goals have clashed with Bashir's domestic objectives, leading to a split within the Islamic movement in Sudan.