Sudan’s popular uprising and the demise of Islamism

Abstract

This Sudan Brief is concerned with the fractionalization of Islamism during Bashir’s rule (1989-2019). It does not focus on the details of Bashir’s brutal rule, rather, it is about the emerging disunity from within which eventually led to the removal of Bashir from power. I analyze factors that led to the Islamists adopting a more pragmatic stand, especially after the main ideologue of the Islamist movement was kicked out into the cold in 1999. The Brief argues that although the Islamists have successfully created a parallel or deep state the last three decades, the political shift of power away from the Islamists which the 2018 popular uprising represent, makes the political future of Islamism bleak.