The regime change in Sudan, after the removal of president al-Bashir from power in April 2019, offered local actors and foreign powers the possibility of shaping Sudan's new international realignment. The transitional government, with civilian and military leadership, has carefully sought to stabilize ties with Sudan's traditional allies and re-establish its foreign relations with the West. For decades, Sudan was an international outcast under the al-Bashir regime.

Since September 2019, the transitional government has been involved in internationally backed high-level diplomatic exchanges with Europe, the United States, neighbouring countries and other regional players. These efforts resulted in the removal from the U.S. state sponsors of terrorism list and to the normalization with Israel, the EU, the World Bank and other regional stakeholders Sudan needs international financial and technical assistance to address political and economic uncertainty and to succeed its transition to democracy.

Within this context, the Regional Program Political Dialogue South Mediterranean of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung continues to explore the geopolitics of the fragile Sudanese transition. In this edition of Spotlight on Sudan, we aim to highlight the internal and external factors that determine the main orientations of Sudan's current foreign policy. In addition, the publication examines the many facets of the country's relations with external powers and concludes with a set of recommendations.