How coup in Sudan challenges Biden’s desire to support democracy

Before a military coup and bloody crackdown on Monday flipped the narrative, U.S. officials believed Sudan had all the makings of a success story, a bright spot where Washington could encourage a post-revolution country’s march toward stable democracy.

The 2019 uprising that ended the rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir had led to a power-sharing deal between civilian protesters and the military, a three-year transition agreement brokered in part by the United States and the international community.

For Washington, the deal offered a clear road map without widespread bloodshed, instability, or repression.

Yet this week the U.S. issued a condemnation and suspended $700 million in aid to Sudan after the military dissolved the civilian government with which it had jointly ruled, arrested officials, and seized complete power. On Thursday President Joe Biden denounced the coup as a “grave setback,” urging the generals to restore civilian rule and put the country on a path back to

“Restraint theory”Coalition of voicesA dispiriting turnCoup’s cost to SudanSharing power “unsustainable”