Connections Episode 113
Sudan Update
Mouin Rabbani Interviews Khalid Medani
Thursday, 22 January 2026
2:00 PM ET | 20:00 CET
Join us on Thursday, 22 January for a conversation with Khalid Mustafa Medani about recent developments in Sudan. This episode of the Connections podcast examines the ongoing war in Sudan, the resulting humanitarian crisis, the role of regional actors, and prospects for a resolution.
Connections offers timely and informative interviews on current events and broader policy questions, as well as themes relevant to knowledge production. It combines journalism, analysis, and scholarship.
Guest
Khalid Mustafa Medani is Associate Professor of Political Science and Islamic Studies at McGill University, where he is also the Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies and Chair of the African Studies Program. His research focuses on globalization, and the political economy of Islamist and ethnic politics in Africa and the Middle East, with a special focus on Sudan, Egypt, and Somalia. Dr. Medani is the author of Black Markets and Militants: Informal Networks in the Middle East and Africa (Cambridge University Press, 2021) which in 2022 was recognized as Best Book in the Field of Middle East and North Africa Politics by a Senior Scholar by the American Political Science Association. His most recent article, “The Struggle For Sudan”, was published in Middle East Report.
Dr Medani’s most recent article, “Militants and Militias: Authoritarian Legacies and the Political Economy of War in Sudan”, is published by the American Political Science Association's APSA MENA Newsletter and available at this link: https://apsamena.org/mena-politics-newsletter/mena-politics-newsletter-82-fall-2025/
Host
Mouin Rabbani is a researcher, analyst, and commentator specialising in Palestinian affairs, the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the contemporary Middle East. He has among other positions previously served as Principal Political Affairs Officer with the Office of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Head of Middle East with the Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation, and Senior Middle East Analyst and Special Advisor on Israel-Palestine with the International Crisis Group. Rabbani is Co-Editor of Jadaliyya, and a Contributing Editor of Middle East Report.