Sudan in the Wake of a Trump Victory

I have been asked regularly over the past week what a Trump victory means for Darfur, and Sudan more broadly. I must confess the gravest concern and a fear that the U.S. intelligence community will have no difficulty in rolling a Trump administration to do its bidding in forging a more "productive" relationship on counter-terrorism issues with the génocidaires who make up the Khartoum regime.

There have been no significant statements about Sudan policy during the beginning of the transition period, as there were none during the entire course of the primary season or in the general election contest with Hillary Clinton, who herself said nothing about Sudan. The one exception comes in the form of a recent statement by Walid Phares, who was hired by Trump primarily as an adviser terrorism and counter-terrorism. Phares has declared that there should be no lifting of economic sanctions against Sudan, a comment that was picked up only by Sudanese on-line news sites, no American or European news organization. Whether Phares will have any meaningful role in a Trump administration is quite unclear; he is a man without a significant political profile, and with questionable credentials. Among other things, he works as a commentator for the hideously ideological Fox News.

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