ABSTRACT
The importance of external relations for Sudanese politics has varied considerably at different times, essentially reflecting the changing situation within the country. While foreign policy had often been treated as relatively unimportant before 1969, under Nimeiri the survival of his regime came to rely increasingly on a variety of foreign alignments. Nimeiri's successors have not been similarly reliant, but, in inheriting the problems he left, have found that they have brought with them a greater importance for foreign policy than had been the case in the pre-1969 period.
