Sudan's contemporary history witnessed the longest African war, the South Sudan War, which lasted nearly fifty years. The current war has witnessed several changes; The rebel forces this time are regular, have a constitutional and legal status, and have been funded and armed by the state.
For the first time in the history of wars in Sudan, the state has funded rebels against it and its regular army from its resources. The variable that will have a major impact in the near and distant future is the ethnic and regional dimensions of this war.