THE GENERAL’S DECLINE
Professor Paul Moorcraft delivers a razor-sharp analysis of Sudan, one of Africa’s least understood countries, and a fascinating profile of its enigmatic former leader Omar al Bashir. In 1989 Bashir led a military coup that ousted the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Sadiq al-Mahdi. It was Bashir’s government that subsequently negotiated an end to the second Sudanese Civil War (under considerable international pressure), leading to a referendum in the south which saw its separation and establishment as the nation of South Sudan. Moorcraft’s analysis reveals a man of charisma, intelligence, and extraordinary cunning as those who underestimated him discovered to their cost!
Internationally, Bashir was regarded as a war monger and terrorist sympathiser (Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden lived in Sudan from 1991 to 1996), yet he oversaw a massive oil boom that brought wealth to Sudan’s middle classes; transformed Khartoum from an almost “Medieval backwater to a modern city – albeit with many slums – in a remarkably short time”; withstood Western attempts to topple him either directly or via proxies; and financed his counter insurgency campaigns despite a massive debt crisis. Yet those same networks of armed militias and security teams would also contribute to his downfall! Moorcraft is even handed in the assessment of his subject. Although he doesn’t excuse the appalling atrocities that occurred on Bashir’s watch, he argues that he was faced with the “impossible legacy” of holding together Africa’s biggest country against a backdrop of endless conflict. In some respects that makes him comparable to Marshal Josip Tito, leader of the former Yugoslavia, or the ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein:
“Al Bashir for all his many faults – had done, arguably, a better job than either his Iraqi or Balkan counterparts.”
On the road to power, Bashir presented himself as a humble man of the people willing to listen and talk, yet there was a ruthlessness beneath the veneer of amiability. It was the genocide in Darfur, which saw the pro-government militia the Janjaweed quash a rebellion killing more than 300,000 people, that would define his legacy. Accusations of rape, murder, and torture by Janjaweed forces saw Bashir being the first sitting head of state to be targeted with arrest warrants for crimes of genocide by the International Criminal Court in the Hague. Ironically that boosted his popularity among his countrymen and even with some of his opponents! He was eventually ousted from power in 2019 after months of demonstrations and a crippling economic crisis.
Although at the time of its publication Bashir was still in power, that doesn’t make this book any less readable. Moorcraft conducted in-depth face to face interviews with Bashir, his family, and close political/military associates, all of which add to the book’s authenticity. The author skilfully eases the reader through the tangled web of Sudanese politics and the geopolitical jockeying of the international community. Years of endless negotiations with Britain (which co-administered Sudan until its independence in 1956) and the United States, led Bashar to conclude that China was the real deal:
“The Chinese build things that can be of use, while Westerners just bring ideas. Although to be fair, they – and especially the Americans – also supplied food and medicine for decades!”
This book is a genuine must read for anyone interested in African politics, or simply curious about current affairs. Although recent events like the war in Ukraine have knocked Omar al Bashir from the headlines, the uncertainties he left behind haven’t gone away. Sudan remains hamstrung by the legacy of its past and the turmoil of its present history.
Reviewed by Juliette Foster
Why not add Dying for the Truth: The Concise History of Frontline War Reporting, The Jihadist Threat: The Re-Conquest of the West, Inside the Danger Zones: Travels to Arresting Places & The Rhodesian War: A Military History, to your Paul Moorcraft collection?
Click on the covers to find out more about these books by the author.
