Sudan's 2019 Revolution: The Power of Civil Resistance

The 2019 Sudanese revolution constitutes one of the world's greatest stories of the power of nonviolent resistance. A country which had suffered greatly from decades of horrific statesanctioned violence, misogynistic laws, and longstanding religious, ethnic, and regional divisions, an unstoppable movement emerged out of a population systematically disempowered through decades of dictatorship. Millions of Sudanese took to the streets during waves of protests over an eight-month period beginning in December 2018 in a triumph not just of the human spirit, but of some of the most brilliant strategic thinking by any social movement in history.

This report reviews the chronology of the resistance struggle, the critical role of nonviolent discipline, other factors contributing to the movement's success, the subsequent political situation, and lessons to be learned. In overcoming such formidable obstacles, the nonviolent pro-democracy struggle in Sudan serves as an inspiration for the entire world.

About the Author
Zunes, Stephen: - Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he served as founding director of the program in Middle Eastern Studies. Professor Zunes serves as a senior policy analyst for the Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, and a contributing editor of Tikkun. He is the author of hundreds of articles for scholarly and general readership on Middle Eastern politics, civil resistance, U.S. foreign policy, and human rights. He is the principal editor of Nonviolent Social Movements (Blackwell Publishers, 1999), the author of Tinderbox: U.S. Middle East Policy and the Roots of Terrorism (Common Courage Press, 2003), the author of Civil Resistance Against Coups: A Comparative and Historical Perspective (ICNC Press, 2017), and co-author (with Jacob Mundy) of Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution (Syracuse University Press, second edition, 2021).