Two of these three countries really were in crisis. The third one, widely rumoured to have quit a major military alliance, never actually left.
⏲ Timeline
1952: Turkey Joins NATO, and Dec 2023: Milei Takes Office, and Apr 2023: Sudan’s Civil War Begins, and 2024: A UPSC Question, and 250% Inflation
- NATO MembershipTurkey becomes a full NATO member, on 18 February 1952.
- Milei InaugurationJavier Milei becomes Argentina’s president and declares a public economic emergency through Decree 70/2023.
- Civil War OutbreakWar breaks out between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
- DataArgentina’s inflation exceeds 250% for the year, the same year this trio of countries appears in a UPSC prelims question.
⚠ Must Know
Argentina’s Economic Crisis, and Sudan’s Civil War, and Turkey Never Left NATO, and Two Correct, One False
- Inflation CrisisArgentina faced one of its worst economic crises in decades, with year-on-year inflation exceeding 250% in 2024, under new president Javier Milei’s austerity programme.
- LinkIndEco0009
- Humanitarian CrisisSince April 2023, Sudan has been gripped by civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). It has triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
- InsteadTurkey has not rescinded its NATO membership. It has been a full member since 18 February 1952, and remains one, with the alliance’s second-largest army. See IntlRel0088.
- ResultOnly the Argentina and Sudan pairs were correct. The Turkey-NATO claim was a deliberate false statement.
💡 Good to Know
9 Milei’s Emergency Decree
- Economic EmergencyArgentina’s new government declared a public economic emergency through Decree 70/2023, covering fiscal, pension, and social matters, aiming to run through 2025.
Where the RSF Came From, and The Scale of Sudan’s Crisis, and How Central Turkey Is to NATO
- RSF OriginThe Rapid Support Forces trace back to the Janjaweed militias used during the Darfur conflict. The Sudanese government later restructured them into a formal paramilitary force in 2013.
- DataThe Sudanese civil war has displaced millions of people. A large share have fled the country entirely as refugees, making it one of the largest displacement crises of the decade. See IntlRel0148.
- DataTurkey ranks among NATO’s top contributors and hosts key alliance military infrastructure, underscoring how far the “rescinded membership” claim is from reality.
🎯 Exam Point of View
13 Two Real Pairs, One Fabricated
- QuestionUPSC CSP 2024, Q87 → asked how many of three country-reason pairs were correctly matched. The answer is two: Argentina’s economic crisis and Sudan’s civil war are real; Turkey rescinding its NATO membership never happened.
14 A Crisis Figure Isn’t Frozen in Time
- InsteadDon’t treat a crisis-era statistic as permanent. Argentina’s 250%+ 2024 inflation figure describes that specific year; by mid-2026 the annual rate had fallen to roughly 34%, a very different number for the same country.
Test Yourself
Question 1 of 1
🌟 Great to Know
15 Plausible but False
- WhyUPSC often includes one plausible-sounding but false current-affairs claim alongside genuinely correct ones. This tests whether candidates actually track international news, not just assume headline-sounding claims are true.
Alliance Membership Traps, and Following Crises Closely Pays Off, and A Recurring Question Format
- WhyQuestions about a country supposedly leaving or joining an alliance are a recurring UPSC pattern. Such claims sound newsworthy even when false.
- WhyFollowing major crises like Sudan’s civil war or Argentina’s inflation closely, rather than only remembering isolated facts, helps candidates spot exactly this kind of distractor. See IndEco0046.
- WhyThis question format, mixing real crises with one false alliance claim, has appeared in various forms across multiple UPSC prelims cycles.
📰 Current Affairs
19 Sudan’s War, Still Unresolved
- Current StatusAs of August 2026, fighting in Sudan continues to deepen humanitarian needs and fuel further displacement, with no durable ceasefire in place between the two sides.
- LinkSource: UN News
20 Argentina’s Inflation, Sharply Down
- DataBy July 2026, Argentina’s annual inflation rate had fallen to about 33.8%, down sharply from the 250%-plus levels of 2024, though monthly inflation ticked back up slightly that month.
- LinkSource: Buenos Aires Times
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