Sudan seeks to change its global image

The big picture: This is only one of several steps to clean up Sudan's international image taken by the joint military-civilian government that replaced brutal dictator Omar al-Bashir last year.

• The most high-profile act was the announcement this week that Bashir will go before the International Criminal Court to face charges for war crimes and genocide in Darfur.
• It's not yet clear where (or whether) a trial will take place.
• Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also made a historic visit to the Nuba Mountains, a rebel stronghold, and opened the isolated region to foreign aid.
• Meanwhile, the leader of Sudan's governing council, Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, held a landmark meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after decades of hostile relations.

What to watch: Sudan's economy is in shambles and its transition to democracy is far from certain. The delicate power-sharing deal with the generals is slated to continue until elections in late 2022.

• "[W]ithout outside help, including financial, the risk is that its democratic experiment will slip backwards," David Pilling writes in the FT. "Without it, the path of Egypt or Myanmar beckons."
• "In the age of President Donald Trump, it has no obvious champion in Washington. Nor do Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states currently propping up Sudan have much interest in seeing a vibrant democracy take hold."