The war moved Sudan in a dangerous move, from the berth of developing countries to the recovery room, and today it has become as if it is the sick man of Africa (French)
After the end of this war, many Sudanese will be surprised that their country has been almost completely destroyed, and that factories, museums, universities, and monuments have been looted and bulldozed, and that the economy - specifically - is suffering in the throes of death, and almost everything is on the brink of the abyss, which means - and that is the cordon. The only way to survive is to work diligently; To rebuild the state on modern and solid foundations, and to draw inspiration from similar experiences that emerged from the rubble of tragedies.
Shocking losses and numbers
According to statistics from the Ministry of Finance, the economic losses due to the war amounted to 26 billion dollars, which is a preliminary and inaccurate statistic, to which a member of the Sovereignty Council, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Jaber, added shocking numbers, when he stated that public and governmental institutions were subjected to destruction whose reconstruction could exceed 150 billion dollars - what a horror. - These losses are subject to increase, and it is an initial bill for only about one year of fighting!
These numbers, of course, did not include the damage caused to the private sector, and to the vast majority of ordinary people, victims of war, who lost their homes, possessions, families, and sources of livelihood. But the greatest tragedy - which is difficult to mend - is the torn social fabric, from which another generation will suffer. At least, and the dilemma of deadly identities, which resulted from the dialectic of the struggle between the center and the margins, which crossed the tables of the political and military elite, to the simple soldiers who began waving demands for sharing power and wealth over the mouths of rifles, and speaking about historical injustices.
Flying geese
Perhaps it is unfortunate to say; The war has taken Sudan in a dangerous move, from the berth of developing countries to the recovery room, and today it has become as if it is the sick man of Africa, without exaggeration in description, after it was a candidate to be the world’s food basket. This is a reaction that is unparalleled in contemporary experiences, which requires as a necessity Decisive, a deep-rooted reformist revolution, similar to what happened in Japan, as the whole world is moving forward, at a slow pace, or in the manner of the flying geese theory, which depicts the process of economic growth in the countries of East Asia, and Japan is at the forefront of that flock.
Perhaps when the Japanese economist Akamatsu Kaname developed this theory in 1937 AD, he relied on the method of flocks of geese, which indicates that emerging countries - representing the subsequent flock - tend towards less advanced industries, compared to countries that surpass them in economic development, and he presented his country’s historical experience in The amazing transformation from importing textiles from Britain to producing and then exporting them, leading to the concentration of capital and the “modernist” turn, is such that the world today is very impressed with the Japanese experience, as if it were a country on a different planet.
It may be useful for the Sudanese to look at Japan's experience, not because of the industrial revolution it led to, but because of its amazing beginning and rapid exit from the bottleneck, which necessarily requires destroying what remains of the bureaucratic state apparatus and the outdated political ideas of the old regime.
Japanese experience
Returning to the last year of World War II, while breathing was rising, the Allies carried out an air attack with incendiary bombs, destroying and devouring about 67 Japanese cities. This was then followed by America dropping two nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, causing Tokyo to finally surrender, and the war ended with massive destruction in almost all parts of Japan. This resulted in the end of the imperial grip, and the destruction of the economy and all of ancient life, until everyone thought that Japan would not survive after that black day.
But the Japanese mind was not defeated, and the then Prime Minister Yoshida took the task upon himself with some seriousness, and turned a curse into a blessing. In fulfillment of what was later known as the Japanese miracle, which occurred in less than twenty years, under the slogan: (Fukoku Kyohei), which means developing the economic and military power of the country, in a serious attempt to catch up with the industrial West, and to proceed on top of a number of reform projects, the laws first targeted, And then education and agricultural production, and above all, building the individual’s personality on the “Gaman” model, which the Japanese have embraced since childhood, which is a set of strategies aimed at dealing with uncontrollable events, to the extent that individuals develop in themselves an extraordinary ability to withstand unexpected or bad things. It is difficult to overcome successfully, such as: earthquakes and other life difficulties.
Dismantle the central grip
On the other hand, after the war ends, the people of Sudan need an important stage, which is the stage of social and political recovery, and then agreeing on a new constitution, which includes an effective solution to the most important problem confined to the struggle for power, which is an issue that requires dismantling the grip of the center in favor of the regions, by adopting the model Federal to a greater degree, with each region entitled to enjoy its wealth and political rights, and coordination with the center on some sovereign issues only, without there being a need for migration towards the capital.
The other problem is related to putting an end to foreign hands that tamper with the resources of the Sudanese, as what has most harmed stability over the previous decades has been the Sudanese susceptibility to foreign interventions and the prosperity of political labor markets abroad, which is almost dictated by the geographical situation of Sudan and the weakness of national motivation, especially since, As Dr. Azmi Bishara pointed out in his book: “The Democratic Transition and Its Problems,” “The greater the geostrategic weight of the state, the greater the influence of negative external factors,” which is exactly our current predicament, and the national forces can remedy the independence of the decision, in the midst of their struggle to save what can be saved.
Perhaps it is not necessary to trace the Japanese miracle back to back, hoof by hoof. Sudan has its own peculiarity and uniqueness, even in times of calamity, while Japan is an exceptional country in this world. But it is also the closest experience to what one can do in the wake of defeat and destruction. Wisdom is the lost property of a believer, wherever he finds it. He is more deserving of taking it. With it, the Sudanese people have one last chance to rise above the wounds and then go to work.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.