The Burden of History and the Struggle for Influence: When the UAE, Israel, and France Unite to Undermine Khartoum’s Will
Abdulaziz Yaqoub
(1) In the fog of war, the hand that first lit the fire is rarely seen—only the aftermath is visible: flames, blood, devastation, victims, and death. But in Sudan, the picture has become clearer. The ongoing war is no longer just an internal conflict; every day reveals more of its external dimensions, sinister alliances, and the psychological and political motives that have turned Sudan—the Arab-African nation—into a target for fragmentation and starvation. Simply because it said “no” when others remained silent.
When peoples rise and traitors’ masks fall, the true face of the enemy is revealed—no makeup, no intermediaries. In Sudan, the war was never just a power struggle. It was a cover for a wider regional project. One where French colonialism breathes its old-new deceit, managed by the UAE with money extracted from its powerless people, and fueled by Israel’s dream of a “Greater State.” A state that this alliance envisions stretching from the Horn of Africa to the African plains and even the Atlantic—an intense race to dominate the region’s key points, resources, and waters, and to encircle Egypt from its southern flank.
(2) Behind this political landscape lie deep psychological motives driving the rulers of the UAE. Born into the shifting sands of oil wealth, they are haunted by an inferiority complex in the shadow of Sudan’s ancient civilization and timeless history. Sudan is not just vast in geography—it commands cultural prestige and is home to a people who toppled tyrants with popular revolutions and free will, without external oversight. This revolutionary model poses a psychological threat to those who built their legitimacy on enforced silence and hidden oppression, and to those who substituted popular legitimacy with coercive dominance rooted in blood and betrayal.
A deeply rooted inferiority complex toward history—and a forced sense of superiority over poor but free peoples—has led the UAE rulers to antagonize Sudan. Not because Sudan poses a material threat, but because it reflects all they lack: tolerance, national dignity, popular will, and a mind that sees people as the future’s greatest resource. From this perspective, conspiring against Sudan became a psychological necessity before it was a political interest.
With the tight alliance between Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv, the desire to erase Sudan from the Arab-African balance has intensified. From Port Sudan to Bab al-Mandeb, this alliance has drawn a shared sphere of influence aimed at suffocating Egypt’s decision-making, isolating Cairo from its African depth, and breaking what remains of free will in the Levant and the Horn of Africa.
(3) The picture would be incomplete without mentioning France’s role in emptying West Africa of Arab tribes and its ambitions in some parts of western Sudan. Paris has adopted both old and new strategies to reduce Arab influence in the African plain by supporting separatist movements and demographic change. Its intelligence agencies have invested in Darfur’s resources and the border areas of Chad and Niger to create a security and economic belt that distances Arab influence—pushing it toward Sudan’s inferno—and clearing French colonies of Arab Muslim presence.
Weakening Sudan was not limited to fragmenting an already burdened state. It was a prelude to blackmailing Egypt, deepening Gaza’s tragedy, and pulling neighboring countries into the fray. The fall of Egypt’s strategic depth leaves Cairo exposed to regional pressure, isolates African heartland countries from their traditional roles, and opens the door for foreign influence projects from the UAE, Israel, and France. It also undermines Arab solidarity and paves the way for normalization deals—further isolating major Arab causes.
Thus, when Sudan’s back is broken, Egypt’s is exposed, and the vulnerability of Arabs and Africans alike is revealed. When Khartoum’s resilience and will are slaughtered, sovereignty trembles in Cairo and across Arab capitals, and Africa’s resources are looted. They are not just fighting Sudan—they are waging war against history, against the memory of nations, against the future itself. Against everything that reminds them of their chronic inadequacy among peoples who have learned how to rise—not how to obey and live without honor.
