DETERMINANTS OF SUCCESSFUL SECESSIONS IN POST-COLONIAL AFRICA: THE CASE OF SOUTH SUDAN

Albano Agostinho Troco

doi:10.22456/2448-3923.87062

Abstract

Desde o início das independências africanas nos anos 1960, diversos países vivenciaram rebeliões envolvendo grupos etno-linguísticos ou comunidades marginalizadas, que exigem a partição territorial de Estados existentes com o objetivo de constituir nações novas e independentes. Apesar da alta incidência de conflitos secessionistas no continente, apenas dois casos conseguiram com sucesso estabelecer novos Estados na África pós-colonial: Eritreia, em 1993, e Sudão do Sul, em 2011. A fundação do Sudão do Sul ocorreu em um contexto continental e global hostil à emergência de novos Estados. Tal evento deu início a um intenso debate na literatura a respeito dos fatores que melhor explicam a partição do país. Uma parte da academia sugere que fatores domésticos são cruciais no processo, enquanto outra defende serem fatores externos os decisivos para a separação. Este estudo oferece uma nova perspectiva ao debate argumentando que uma combinação entre fatores domésticos e externos foi decisiva para o sucesso da luta secessionista do Sudão do Sul. O artigo se baseia na análise qualitativa de fontes secundárias e representa uma contribuição única ao debate sobre os determinantes para as secessões bem-sucedidas na África pós-colonial.

Highlights

On July 9th, 2011 an exceptional political event took place in the African continent: the birth of a new state bearing the official name of Republic of South Sudan
South Sudan’s secession is all the more exceptional in post-colonial Africa if one brings to the fore the fact that the policies of the African Union (AU) and its predecessor, the Organization of African Union (OAU), uphold the sacrosanct character of the inherited colonial borders
The paper draws upon qualitative secondary data sources and is structured as follows: section one presents a theoretical perspective on secession; section two examines the root-causes of secessionist conflicts in post-colonial Africa; section three analyzes the process of the secession of South Sudan; while section four advances the factors that explain the successful outcome of South Sudan’s secession

Summary

Introduction

On July 9th, 2011 an exceptional political event took place in the African continent: the birth of a new state bearing the official name of Republic of South Sudan. The fact that the international community shows preference for the status quo regarding the emergence of new states, making the recognition of secessionist claims outside the colonial context an extremely difficult affair (McNamee 2012, 3). This development started an intense debate in the literature regarding the factors that better explain the partition of Sudan. This study adopts an alternative view, positing that both external and domestic factors played a decisive role in determining the successful outcome of South Sudan’s secession. The paper draws upon qualitative secondary data sources and is structured as follows: section one presents a theoretical perspective on secession; section two examines the root-causes of secessionist conflicts in post-colonial Africa; section three analyzes the process of the secession of South Sudan; while section four advances the factors that explain the successful outcome of South Sudan’s secession

Theoretical perspectives on secession

Antagonistic historical relations between northern and southern Sudan

International search for peace and stability in the Sudan

Flaws in the drafting and implementation of the CPA

Findings

Conclusion