After its hard-won independence in 2011, South Sudan slid quickly into violent conflict and became a theatre of enormous human suffering. This article attempts to answer the question of what went wrong, and what prospects exist for South Sudanese to forge a resilient social contract to build and sustain peace. It employs an analytical framework postulating three drivers of such a contract, at the heart of which is how core issues of conflict that underpin…

This briefing discusses the increase of armed groups in South Sudan and its implications of violence.

This report looks at one of the most important yet contested political processes in South Sudan: the process of drafting a permanent constitution. It takes a social science perspective and focuses, in particular, on the dynamics of inclusion and exclusion in the constitution-making process. The report argues that temporary constitutions negotiated in closed settings can increase conflict levels within a country. In South Sudan, for example, the President failed to prioritise the review of the…

This paper (2015) is a review of the Addis Ababa-based, IGAD-led peace process. It focuses on highlighting risks which may stand in the way of an inclusive settlement, including the competition for power, the question of ethnic divides that have fuelled violence, the multiplicity of armed non-state actors; how to include them in a settlement without creating a gargantuan military that could bankrupt the country and remilitarise the situation. Download

This paper argues that the continuation of violence within South Sudan and Sudan and the threat of returning to inter-state war are a result of the failure of the political settlement reached through the CPA. Download

Curious to broaden your search to Sudan?
Try our sister facility CSF