Sudan is not just huge—it is the third-largest country in Africa—but it also spans a troubled and crucially important geopolitical region.

Since the nation borders the Nile River, its fate is of virtually existential importance to Egypt, which is downstream, and Ethiopia, which is upstream and has ambitious hydroelectric plans that are currently affecting the flow of the river.

Sudan borders seven countries in all, each with security challenges that are intertwined with the politics of Khartoum.

South Sudan descended fast into the kind of protracted civil war that some worry may now befall Sudan as well. When South Sudan gained independence, it took the majority of the region's valuable oil fields with it, leaving Sudan much poorer and indirectly fueling the current crisis in Khartoum as opposing military factions fight for control of dwindling economic resources like gold and agriculture.

As part of that struggle, Sudan's generals - the military has always been big, allegedly corrupt players in the local economy - have gone in search of foreign partners. For agriculture, that has meant inviting Gulf states to invest in the huge, and relatively underused potential of the rich soil that borders the Nile River.

The interests of Russia in the nation and region are far more extensive. The Red Sea may be seen from the bleak coastline of eastern Sudan.

Not surprisingly, a vast range of governments is now seeking to influence events on the ground in Sudan.

For now, the focus appears to be on ending the battle between the army and the RSF paramilitary group before it spreads further, and threatens to evolve from a relatively straightforward power struggle into a more complex civil war.