This paper locates the internationalisation of Sudanese governance in a historical context, briefly noting how the country had an unusual and complex experience of imperial rule, and mentions some of the implications of this for post-independence politics. It also looks into Sudan’s relationship with its donors and creditors, examining how the government has managed to maintain a remarkable degree of autonomy despite its enormous debt burden that should in principle have left it dependent. It looks at how successive governments managed to finance war using a mixture of formal and informal channels for international resource flows. The conclusion is that while Sudan today possesses the finance to escape from its dependence, it is unlikely to be able to manage such a feat because of the contending power centres within Khartoum. The third section examines how Sudan relates to its eastern, western and southern neighbours.
