Foreign powers are arming and funding opposing military leaders in Sudan, who are now battling for control of the country. It’s just the latest in a line of civil conflicts worldwide that are trending longer and more complex.

This episode was produced by Miles Bryan, edited by Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Michael Raphael, and hosted by Noel King.

In this episode of Today, Explained, we misstated the relationship between the German composer Richard Wagner and Adolf Hitler. Rather than Wagner professing Nazi sympathies, as our guest suggested, Hitler was instead a fan of Wagner.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained

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