To describe Sudan's relations with China as shrouded in controversy would be an understatement. Certainly, Beijing's support of the regime in Khartoum via its investment in the oil industry has been, in one way or another, an agenda item of various forums from political summits to advocacy gatherings for more than a decade. However in spite of, or indeed because of, this focus on Sudan's relations with a singular dominant Asian partner, the complex nature of Sudan's foreign relations and their interplay with domestic tensions is often overlooked. Certainly, China's role in Sudan is rarely put in context. Daniel Large and Luke Patey's edited volume is an attempt to address this.
The original project, to bring together a collection of works from Chinese, Sudanese, Indian and Malaysian scholars to discuss Sudan's “Look East” policy was an ambitious one, and it is clear from the list of contributors that ultimately this did not come to pass, presumably due to the practical difficulties of locating experts from these countries who were free to make analyses unhampered by political considerations. It is nevertheless clear that the authors have an intimate knowledge of their subject matter; the chapters are littered with references to interviews in the field, showing very much a “hands-on” approach, despite the obvious difficulties of conducting research of such a sensitive nature, particularly when the country is question has been suffering from various conflicts over an extended period.
Throughout the book, the themes of South–South cooperation and non-interference are raised and questioned. The heavy rhetoric of long-standing historical relations is used to some effect by China, India and Malaysia. As a result, none of the authors dismiss this political posturing outright; rather they hold it up for examination and explore how political ties have been used to further economic gains.
Although overshadowed by the Chinese presence, Patey's and Marchal's chapters respectively on Sudan's historic and contemporary relations with India and Malaysia are important contributions in removing the tunnel vision that accompanies many academics' assessments of Sudan's relations with the East. Significantly, Sudan's importance as a market for goods and services is underlined, as in some cases it is of more value than the oil equity the Asian national oil companies hold in Sudan's blocs.
Verhoeven's chapter is a welcoming analysis of a less-explored aspect of China's involvement in Khartoum's grand designs for damming the Nile. He unpacks important concepts regarding state building and regime consolidation.
It becomes clear in the chapters of Large and Patey that the government in Khartoum has been skilful in its manipulation of foreign partners assumed to be more powerful and resourceful than itself. Sudan has been on the receiving end of the “go global” policies of emerging powers like China, India and to a lesser extent Malaysia, but a certain level of agency has been employed by the Sudanese political elite, allowing them to further their ambitions at the expense of large swathes of the population. Moro's chapter gives voice to these communities ignored by high politics.
Sudan's pariah status, while providing its Asian partners with a market stripped of Western investment, has the unintended consequence of internationalizing bilateral relations, as Budabin shows in her examination of the “Genocide Olympics” campaign.
The dichotomy of Sudan's oil export complex is well-explained: it both intensified North–South civil conflict by providing Khartoum with the foreign exchange to consolidate its regime, and yet also provided the motive for peace as the war was ultimately shrinking the North's oil profits and excluding the South from them altogether. The editors and authors for the most part succeed in presenting a more nuanced picture of Sudan's foreign relations with its Asian partners.
Published at the time of the secession referendum in 2011, the volume would benefit from a second edition some years from now to take into account the implications of an independent Southern Sudan, although Large does set the scene for the challenges ahead. Large and Patey in their conclusion also highlight the importance of following other strands of research, such as immigrants and small-scale Chinese entrepreneurs, as well as emerging political dynamics in newly independent Southern Sudan.
This book at times assumes a certain level of familiarity on the part of the reader with Sudan's complex political landscape, but it is an excellent introduction to the primary issues of Sudan's (now Sudans') politics of alternatives. Although central to an understanding of their political context, the Sudans are about more than oil, and their Asian partners include more than just China.
