By: Cde Mohammed Yagoub (Zerick)
Those follow politics always see how politicians comfort their subjects or tell the masses about how natural condition peace is, the war is only an occasional mistake that can end soon. Even though such promises are made almost in every boardroom, the flames of war keep expanding and changing shapes and territories but never ending. When one part of the world or a country takes their nap in peace the other gets the opposite. Everyday defence corporations put more energy in production of the newest and the most sophisticated arsenal. If peace is as natural as masses are being promised everyday why it doesn’t last? How true is it that the war is a result of bad leadership? Bad leaders might be participants or even partners in crime but is it possible that something deeper beyond bad leaders exist? how possible is it that the war itself is one of the features that makes elitist state function perfectly in favour of elitism?
In this article we dig deeper to find out whether war comes as a result of accidental mistakes of bad leaders or it’s part and parcel of elitist state, a structural part that makes it possible for the ruling elites within elitist state to manage population, renew their power through creation of fear, destruction and maintain control. Also have a glimpse at how war and peace are two sides of the same coin reserved for system’s maintenance.
Even though we are always being told, peace is very normal part of human life and the war comes as a result of diplomatic failures. History tells something different, according to history peace is the least visible part of the coin and the war is the most famous part of the system’s card. Usually, the end ceremonies of wars make us see the growth of armies, mass production of weapons and preparation of governments for the upcoming war. It seems what’s known as peace to the common man is just a short-break for the system to prepare another team or the same for the next fight. Without wars and creation of fear it’s very hard for the elitist system to justify taxes being paid by the masses, having control, emergency powers and military spending. In elitist system war doesn’t disorganize peace rather it keeps it in place.
The Machiavellianism had a warning for the elitist rulership ‘’A ruler who cannot keep his people united through justice must use fear’’ he went on to explain that people without outside enemy to direct their frustrations can direct it against their own rulers therefore the intelligent rulers have to find for them an enemy even imaginary one or even turn them to fight each other. This is one of the principles modern elitist states studied surgically and applied. In order to justify why they have to control whatever; they don’t agree with or silence those operate outside their system they have to manufacture an enemy whether real or imagined to rally the masses against it and paint it as an evitable threat that can wipe the masses out before the system. When masses are made to sink in fear their essential freedoms that make humans human become secondary or even unnecessary. Unlike innocent civilians who pay the price of war, the war is a great blessing for the governments it opens for them gates to do things which they can hardly do during the normal times. Things like unsupervised spending, spying on the masses, obligatory complete submission, control of information and even destruction is justified. In elitist state war is not an indicator of politics failing rather consolidation of it.
War is more than what’s being fought with arms, it has its sustenance in economics. Every battlefield behind the scene has a system of trade routes, contracts and those who gain from it handsomely. War is designed to move the wealth to those behind the system. Mercenaries, foreign defence contractors and the poor soldiers praised for nationalism if paid any get their payment from the public resources. Agencies of destruction who supplied weapons for destruction will work hand in hand with those who are going to rebuild after the war to gain twice and the elites of the system continue gaining throughout all these stages. This is the main reason why the genuine and everlasting peace is hardly in their interest, since the war consolidates power and creates wealth for the system the elitist state will protect its continuation at any cost.
Having look at the history of wars tell us that it destroyed old systems and created new ones, wars like world wars have minimized the scale of European colonial empires or repackaged it in imperial forms and pushed United States of America as a new powerful force. African independence wars created new states brought independence at a rhetorical level.
In the elitist state war is similar to wild fire burning forests it destroys generations of rulers. When one is taken down the next generation takes over the system it even goes on sometimes to change borders, shapes cultures and economies but it never stops. It only pauses to change a player as football players do during their matches. Even though generations of rulers change, war never stops shows war is not a mistake of bad leaders rather it’s a necessary path for those behind the system to carry out their reshaping and reorganization of the system whenever they need to.
One of the clearest examples before us to understand why war is not a mere mistake of bad leaders, rather intentional creation of the elitist state to rescue itself from the masses who are done with the system is a Sudanese war currently occupying all the world’s major screens. Elitism in Sudan hijacked the state at her early stages of conception as a modern Sudanese state shapeshifted across ideologies to maintain control. In desperate need to keep the structure of power elites in Sudan never stopped jumping like frogs from nationalism, socialism, Islamism, Militarism to Tribal militiarism. Islamo-Arabist ideology serving the elitist system for the last three decades in Sudan was shocked by the young and peaceful revolutionaries of December 2018 revolution who demanded Freedom, Peace and Justice. Young revolutionaries saw the realities of the system which is built and maintained through use of genocidal methods of violence, division and manipulations. They wanted to live in Sudan of their dreams that doesn’t differentiate Sudanese based on colour, race, ethnicity, region, religious or non-religious beliefs, which elitist state cannot afford, the system can’t easily allow such transformation.
The very things the system used as tools of control like ethnicity, religion, region etc are being debunked now, by generations who have been victims of the system. When faced with realities of need for true change the elitist system revised the old codes of operation of the elitist regimes and came back ready to destroy whole Sudan but not to lose her grip on power. When elites faced existential threat, they divided themselves into two fronts of operations. One front code named Sudanese Armed Forces to take the image of the so-called national army and the second group Rapid Support Forces the ruthless genocidal organization carrying true military ideals of Islamo-Arabist state to take rebellious side as a paramilitary force. To those who can’t read beyond visible surface these are two opposing forces one fighting Islamists and the other fighting foreign invasion. To those understand how elitist state operates these are not opposing forces these are two sides of the same coin controlled by the same force the ‘elitist structure’ the main goal of the war is to make it impossible for the other alternative political system that might come from revolutionary forces.
Genocidal practices and mass violence have been well tested tools of control for elitist rulers in Sudan. The burning of villages, mass killings based on ethnicity to massacres of peaceful protesters have never been accidental sad incidents they have always been strategic means of keeping the elitist structure alive. Machiavelli’s warnings for the rulers are taken personal by those grew up in his political orphanage to become modern elitist leaders. According to Machiavellian logic those elitist rulers who failed to find external enemies for their subjects have to look inward, in turning communities against each other based on whatever enmity crafted rulers can secure themselves against very energy that might be directed against them. Using methods of scorched earth policy, exiling the educated or targeted killing etc It intends to create a docile governable subjects, who can’t oppose whatever the system puts forward as useful.
The December revolution of the youngsters put the ruling elites of Sudan in great dilemma, they had to borrow idea from the global war on terror logic in which U.S president George W. Bush made his infamous declaration in 2001 saying that ‘you are either with us or against us’ that statement simplified the matter for the whole world to take sides among the two camps created. The elitists in Sudan repackaged it and presented it internally for all Sudanese without exception to choose sides saying you are either a Janjaweed (RSF) or Kizan (SAF) supporter claiming there’s no middle ground between the two choices code named war of dignity and revolution of the marginalized.
Many individuals, political organizations, former revolutionaries, activists and social groups fell for it believing that they are rescuing their country from foreign invasion or fighting revolution of the marginalized against oppressors. Borrowing slogans from here and there across ideologies whose meanings and contexts they don’t understand. The same RSF soldier who uses quotes from Malcolm X early morning reminding himself of black revolutionary struggles in America executes Blackman at the midday nothing more than just because of who they are, forgetting term revolution he was told to memorize early morning and the other island fighting to consolidate power for Islamism is not short of guys who take quotes from Che Guevara who never wished to live under religious governance system.
The ardent revolutionaries who understand the system took neutral position and refused to be bend by reshaping and reframing of the Sudanese problem in favour of maintaining elitist state structure. Those studied the system surgically and refused to fall for her traps have always been attacked hardest even more than those who are in direct military confrontation with them with supposed direct enemy. Sometimes through their military wings on the other side of the island and the propaganda machines of the state.
Media has never stopped a single day from attacking those refused to take part in this trap naming them any term of categorization came into their minds. The surgical reality says both sides of the current war are being engineered and controlled by the same force, the war is being used to filter surgical abortion of revolutionary future. That’s why some activists belonging to former revolutionary forces who hurriedly allied with SAF to replace the rebelling RSF recently after fall of Alfashir city the capital of north Darfur state after about two years fighting alone without serious support from the SAF took their grief to social media regretting their choice to stand with SAF which represents guardian of the system. That’s the true face of the elitist system it’s ready to use any ideology, group or terminology to secure her future and never cares beyond that.
The strategy of dividing themselves into two has institutional and psychological levels of significance one tells the masses that whoever chooses neutrality chose side of betrayal and the other side after emptying banks, businesses and all functioning of the state that makes civil life possible puts forward institutionalized kind of submission. Resources are monopolized by the two blocs, petty nationalism is being preached those want money and freedom from their engineered threats have to join one of the camps to save themselves, their social group and the nation.
Sudan is experiencing leadership by war not failure of leadership, based on mathematics of elitism war is carefully crafted art of giving the rulers power of Gods this is the right time in which no one holds them accountable and creation of enemies which makes it possible to justify any kind of atrocities. This is the time to justify privileges in the name of national unity. War is one of methods of governance in elitist state rather than interruption of it.
History of elitism is proving what Pareto once said to become true ‘history is a circulation of elites, old rulers fall new ones emerge and the system remains the same’. They are ready to change anything from ideology, names and slogans but not the methods of control. In that regard if threatened they are always ready to bring war as their shield that enables them to divide the masses into manageable segments.
Elitism displayed in Sudan is not an isolated case the world’s most powerful or presented by the system as such also maintain some types of wars elsewhere far from their borders. Without existence of such conflicts abroad that constantly scares citizens back home it’s hard for them to justify existence of ministries like defence and security which use biggest part of tax payers’ money. Elitist international localizes peace and exports wars. System is designed to tell us that chaos created somewhere creates peace for others.
Since the war has its structural roots it’s necessary for the liberation and those fighting for true liberatory struggles to understand and educate the masses in that context to offer truly everlasting peace for humanity. The way to true liberation can only be done through critical consciousness type of education that frees the masses from fear and blind obedience to power. When Amilcar Cabral said ‘Claim no easy victories’ he meant that without cultural awakening of the masses to reason beyond surface, political changes will simply become replacement of one elitist group as other one awaits the next turn while conditions of people and the system remains same.
Sudan’s liberatory journey requires more than guns which are being used as tested methods for elitist control. Sudan requires a liberatory education that exposes fragilities of elitism by pulling up garments of their shame and tell the masses on how elitism uses propaganda, divides society and manufactures fear to create loyalties. Critical consciousness makes it hard for people to become victims of elitist trappings to make false choices between two bad options presented.
Peace is packaged as an absence of war which itself is wrong definition, peace is the presence of understanding, justice and equality and it’s impossible to have truly sustainable peace in the presence of elitist state that heavily relies on engineered violence. Peace can be accomplished by masses who understand how violence is being deployed by the system to keep herself in control. The art space, the community, all conversation spaces and the classroom must be utilized to eradicate elitist pandemic that thrives on war. Through critical education oppressed masses can derail the genocidal state machinery of elitism, the same way elitists designed war as method of control peace loving people can design their liberation to do away with illusions of power and become totally free as they supposed to be.
The end
3rd November 2025
