CTEC Director Jason Blazakis quoted by Middle East Eye on situation in Sudan

Middlebury Institute Professor and CTEC Director Jason Blazakis was extensively quoted by the Middle East Eye in a recent story on Sudan.

Amongst the Director’s observations: 

According to Blazakis, the US would consider taking Sudan off its terror blacklist if a democratic, civilian-run government were established.

“The Sudanese government would then have to provide two things: proof that there is no evidence that it provides support for acts of terrorism, and assurances that it will not support such acts in the future”, Blazakis said. “Sanctions, in theory, should not be punitive, they should be preventative, and keeping Sudan on the list would be punitive. “On the flip side, there are some foreign policy points that [the US] should try to get out of this before taking them off,” he said.

He also noted that  — if those efforts are successful and a civilian-led government is established, the process of removing Sudan from the blacklist would likely happen soon, according to Blazakis.

“If there is this peaceful transition, that removal probably could occur pretty quickly once that civilian leadership is in place,” he said. “But it makes no sense for the US to negotiate the parameters of removing Sudan from the state sponsor terrorism list while the military still holds on to power.”