An article subject to subscription Summary “The main aim of some of these actors – particularly the Gulf monarchies – is to secure Sudan’s stability and stop the conflict from spilling over into neighbouring states. They are also protecting their food security, since some of them, such as Qatar, own or lease agricultural land in Sudan to feed their own populations. However, the top priority for the UAE and Russia remains control of Sudan’s gold trade, as the country is Africa’s third-largest producer. Qatar is also involved: my sources suggest Doha has transferred $1bn to Sudan’s central bank to support the Sudanese pound and boost the trade in gold between the two countries. In late 2023 the UN Panel of Experts on Sudan reported that the UAE was helping the RSF receive gold that sanctioned companies were smuggling out of Sudan. Similarly, a May 2024 report by the NGO SWISSAID identified the UAE as the primary destination of smuggled African gold. Many experts suggest that Russian econ...
“The West won the world not by the superiority of its ideas or values or religion (to which few members of other civilizations were converted) but rather by its superiority in applying organized violence. Westerners often forget this fact; non-Westerners never do.” —Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilisation and the Remaking of the World Order, 1996, p. 51