Protests against the government of President Omar al Bashir have been withering since escalating on Dec. 19. The country's long-running economic stagnation is driving the latest cycle of unrest, which has been worsened by a plunge in the value of the Sudanese pound and by the doubling and tripling of the price of basic goods, including bread. The government in Khartoum is scrambling to find a way out of the deepening malaise. Even though al Bashir has weathered similar crises before, these protests do threaten his hold on the presidency. Should the battle-scarred president go down -- which remains a big "if" -- the country's stability would be shaky until a new political order could emerge. That unpredictability would complicate Khartoum's relations with its neighbors and its allies in the Gulf and elsewhere. And the violent protests and declining economy would make it even harder for businesses to operate in...
