Missing Another Democratic Moment: America’s Self-defeating Policy in Sudan

Abstract Washington’s leverage over political and military actors in post-Bashir Sudan has been limited. There is little agreement on whether this results from changing international and regional geopolitics, America’s foreign policy priorities and its miscalculations, or a combination of all these factors. Moving beyond these explanations, I argue that the US approach remained deeply shaped by long-standing dilemmas in its democracy promotion doctrine, bureaucratic dynamics, and the decline in domestic advocacy. Understanding these variables contributes to broader debates on US Africa policy and to democracy promotion scholarship by foregrounding domestic drivers and the limits of external support for democratic transitions.