Humanity is suffering from a ‘Sudanese Syndrome’ 
For anyone who thought they had any understanding of the Russia-Ukraine situation, the recent mutiny of Wagner’s mercenaries against Russian army command was yet another unexpected turn of events, nearly as unexpected as the sudden calling off of the rebellion just 200 km from Moscow and without any punitive consequences for the rebels.
The Soviet Union was formed after five years of civil war following the February and October revolutions of 1917. The adoption of a communist ideology led to a trail of illogical and incomprehensible decisions, yet Russia remained an ally of European powers. After the Soviet Union’s dissolution, Russia visibly retained the imperialist worldview of the czars that preceded the 1917 revolutions and the threat of civil war has again reared its head.
By far the world’s largest country by area, extending from within the European continent to the farthest reaches of Asia, it is a country with tremendous resources and potential. Russian schools teach an arguably more logical model of six continents, placing Russia simply in one vast Eurasian continent.
Russia’s potential, however, has been continually squandered through seemingly irrational political decisions and worldviews. I have come to designate this form of constant upheaval and squandered potential the “Sudanese Syndrome,” referring to the almost 70 years of Sudanese independence marked by civil wars, military dictatorships, pariah status and a vast squandering of resources and potential. Over the past decades, it is a syndrome that can increasingly be diagnosed in many Western countries and worldwide.
Tragically, “Sudanese Syndrome” also applies to the custodianship of our planet: a story of mismanagement, confusion and squandered resources with catastrophic consequences if ever there was one. Here the syndrome and virus show their full, devastating nature.
We humans have simply failed to fulfill our role as good stewards of our planet, of the diversity of its life and of our own future and well-being.
Humanity has turned a world of plenty into a cataclysmic shortage of food and fertile land, of clean air and oxygen, with dying oceans that still cover 71 percent of our planet but offer little of the life they once burst with. For the poor man, this means the resources from land and sea he could once rely on have essentially collapsed, as natural disasters such as floods and drought, hurricanes and wildfires not only rob them of the sustaining power of nature but sink us all into a state of universal confusion.
The recent Russian episode simply highlights a nonsensical descent into chaos and confusion that can be observed throughout the world. In the West, a more free society with a free, albeit interest driven, press may have become aware of such dysfunction and discord earlier, but they are increasingly unable to overcome the resulting chaos and confusion. In fact, discord and dysfunction have become so prevalent that they are becoming normalized alongside a new political virus of instability.
Whatever it is, our collective minds seem to be equally infected, preventing us from acting like rational human beings with a common interest in peace and stability. We no longer know who we are or where we are going.
The unfortunate conclusion is that we humans have simply failed to fulfill our role as good stewards of our planet, of the diversity of its life and of our own future and well-being. We thought technology and an endless body of knowledge would allow us to become geniuses at predicting the future and making the right decisions to ensure a hopeful path for humanity, but we cannot even predict the weather accurately. Perhaps we may be able to make good guesses, but we are constantly faced with the occurrence of the unexpected, often with tremendous and unanticipated implications. Animals are known to sense earthquakes coming, we humans seem to possess no such skill or intuition.
The way I see it, humanity is suffering from a “Sudanese Syndrome” that has thrown us into confusion, discord and dysfunction, all while living on a planet that has offered us nothing but abundance and opportunity. We cannot seem to find our way out of this syndrome despite the endless knowledge and wisdom we have collectively accumulated. What is next and how will we learn to deal with the unexpected?
• Hassan bin Youssef Yassin worked with Saudi petroleum ministers Abdullah Tariki and Ahmed Zaki Yamani from 1959 to 1967. He led the Saudi Information Office in Washington from 1972 to 1981 and served with the Arab League observer delegation to the UN from 1981 to 1983.
