In the long and painful story of nations trying to speak their way out of war, Sudan stands at a familiar crossroads: a military leader proposes dialogue, a regional body offers its blessing, and those who have suffered most under the guns refuse to sit down. The African Union's endorsement of General El Burhan's initiative, offered without the ceasefire its own council had previously demanded, has not opened a door to peace so much as revealed how many hands are pulling it in different directions. When the architecture of dialogue is built by one side of a conflict, the question is not whethe