National Identity in Sudan after the 2023 War Reconfiguring Belonging and National Narratives

Abstract

This study examines the impact of the April 2023 war on the reconfiguration of national identity in Sudan by analyzing changes in national narratives, conceptions of the state, citizenship, and national belonging. While previous studies have primarily treated identity as a source of conflict, this article argues that armed conflict also reshapes national identity by transforming the political and social context through which it is understood. Employing a qualitative research design, the study combines historical analysis, process tracing, and narrative analysis to examine political discourse, media narratives, policy documents, reports by international organizations, and academic literature published between 2023 and 2025.

The findings demonstrate that the war did not create Sudan's identity crisis but fundamentally reordered the hierarchy of existing national narratives, redefined their priorities, and generated new forms of expressing national belonging. Alongside growing emphasis on state survival, social solidarity, and shared national destiny, the conflict also reinforced ethnic polarization, regional fragmentation, and competing narratives of victimhood and responsibility. The study identifies four major challenges facing the reconstruction of national identity in post-war Sudan: managing the collective memory of the conflict, developing an inclusive national narrative, rebuilding trust between the state and society, and managing cultural and ethnic diversity within a framework of equal citizenship.

The article contributes to the literature by conceptualizing war not merely as an outcome of identity conflicts but as a transformative process through which national identity itself is renegotiated and reconstructed.