Sudan/Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo from the margin of geography to the center of history

By: Dr. Dagash Hasballah Dagash

07 September 2026

When one looks at the pages of history, one discovers that some leaders did not make their presence because they were born in the heart of power, but because they had the ability to use the historical moment, read the surrounding environment, exploit the potentials and turn them into an influential force, and then move them from a limited scope to a wider space.

One of the most famous examples in this context is Alexander the Great, who was able to move within a few years from leading a kingdom in the periphery of the ancient world to creating one of the most extensive military and political expansion movements of his time, taking advantage of the legacy of his father Philip II, the efficiency of the Macedonian army, its leadership personality, quick decision-making, and reading the balance of power.

The invocation of Alexander the Great is not meant to place General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as “Hemedti”, in the same position, or to say that the two experiences are the same; the difference between the two eras, the two environments, the two states, and historical goals is vast.

Rather, it is meant to stand in front of the phenomenon of the rapid rise of a leader who came from outside the traditional center of power, and was able to transform within a limited period of time into a figure that is difficult to overcome in the political and military equation of his country. From this angle, his experience stands out as one of the most interesting and studied experiences in Sudan’s modern history.

The man who did not start his life from a central political institution, and did not follow the traditional military path of the senior leadership, was able to make his way from a peripheral social environment to the decision-making center of the Sudanese state, moving from a field commander to the commander of a wide-influential force, and then to a political figure present in the most sensitive files inside Sudan and at the regional and international levels. It is a story of ascension that deserves to be read calmly and objectively, to understand the personality, environment, circumstances, and abilities that helped it reach this position.

Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo comes from a Darfuri environment away from traditional decision-making centers, and grew up in a society governed by complex social and economic relations related to pastoralism, trade, markets, and borders.

This environment has given him experience of dealing directly with people, knowledge of geography, understanding social relations, and the ability to communicate with diverse groups and deal with changing circumstances.

This is where an important point emerges in the study of his personality: a leader is not always shaped within formal institutions, but may be made by the environment, experiences, and crises. He grew up in a region that had witnessed decades of turmoil, conflict, and marginalization, and contact with the field became a school of its own.

His transition to senior leadership was not a separate event from his past, but rather the result of the accumulation of experience, relationships, and the ability to move and organize. With the establishment of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in its official form in 2013, he demonstrated leadership ability to manage a force that gradually expanded to become one of the important centers of power in Sudan, with the organization and management of resources, communications, logistics, deployment, command and control.

The speed of the force’s development was not the result of a single year, but rather the result of years of accumulation and friction in operations and conflicts, which allowed for the acquisition of extensive field experience. Despite the absence of a traditional military academic track, field experience has become a continuous school of knowledge of the terrain, men, speed of decision-making, and dealing with changing circumstances.

But the real rise was not only military. After the fall of the regime of Omar al-Bashir in 2019, he became vice president of the Transitional Military Council, and then vice president of the Transitional Sovereignty Council.

Politics needs to negotiate, build alliances, manage disputes, communicate, understand the economy, and deal with civil and military forces, and regional and international balances. He has become present in the files of peace, politics, economy, and foreign relations, combining a strong military position with an official political position.

Power alone does not explain political ascension; many leaders have had the tools of power and have not become political actors, and politicians have the rhetoric and have not been able to build a power base. Hemedti was able to combine the two fields, realizing that military power needs political relations, and that political influence needs tools of power.

His rise also carries significance beyond his own person, in a country that has suffered for decades from the imbalance between the Centre and the parties. From this perspective, his rise can be seen as a model for the transition of a member of the parties to the centre of national decision-making, without implying that his policies are representative of all parties or that their people support him.

Its rise was the result of a combination of several factors: a turbulent political environment, weak institutions, peripheral wars, multiple centers of power, field experience, social networks, the evolution of power, personal presence and ability to communicate, and then to benefit from the major political transformations that Sudan has undergone.

Returning to Alexander the Great, the comparison is not in historical size or the nature of the achievements; Alexander inherited a strong state and army and established a massive expansionist project, while Hemedti came from a different environment and ascended through a complex field and political path within a country suffering from accumulated crises. But the two experiences raise one question: How does a leader transform from a person who exists at a historical moment to a figure who becomes part of the creation of that moment?

And here we come to the most important question: Is greatness in having power, or in knowing how to use it?

Hemedti has achieved an undeniable rise historically, moving from an environment away from the center of the state to a position where he has become one of the most prominent figures in Sudan’s contemporary history.

His name has been associated with an entire phase in Sudan’s history, which saw the collapse of a political system, the rise of new powers, military and political rivalries, and then the outbreak of a war that changed the face and balance of the country.

A serious researcher should not start with the question: Am I with him or against him? Rather, from deeper questions: How was he able to rise so quickly? How did he build a power of this magnitude? How did he turn power into influence and move from the field to politics?

Power makes a leader, intelligence creates influence, and courage creates a presence, but it is the building of the state, the making of peace and the achievement of justice that makes a statesman. Here lies the difference between a leader who passes through history and a leader who makes a lasting impact on him.