Peacemaking and Peace Agreements in South Sudan: An Introduction

Abstract

In 2011, South Sudan seceded from Sudan following a landmark referendum on self-determination. Yet fewer than three years after the historic vote for independence, the world’s newest country descended into a civil war that, since December 2013, has brought killing and bloodshed. In attempts to resolve the conflict and bring the civil war to an end, the warring factions have signed peace agreement after peace agreement. In September 2018, Salva Kiir, the president of South Sudan, and his major adversary, the former vice-president and rebel leader Riek Machar, signed yet another peace agreement in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. This is the 12th agreement between them. Most of these agreements have suffered from a fraught mediation context (at times, being very coercive), deficits in preparedness (with inadequate time to fully implement the agreements), consent, impartiality, inclusivity (given the proliferation of armed and unarmed oppositions), and lack of a broad political strategy to anchor the agreed-upon peace deal. How did this young country that attained her independence in 2011 amidst massive international fanfare degenerate into chaos so quickly? And why have the attempts to resolve the conflict faced such difficulties? The Zambakari Advisory is pleased to publish its First Special Issue on the subject: “Peace Making and Peace Agreements in South Sudan.” We asked scholars, activists, students, former government officials, and leading intellectuals to think about the theme for the issue and offer insights into it. We hope these analyses will provide new insights to both reflect on, and inform, the work of stakeholders engaged in brokering peace and/or the pending National Dialogue. This collection features 15 articles contributed by Douglas H. Johnson, Peter Adwok Nyaba, Rev. Elias Rinaldo Gamboriko, Joseph Madak Wuol, Nichola Mandil Ukeil, Asha Abdel Rahim, Mabior P. Mach, Abui John Garang, Samson S. Wassara, Mahmood Mamdani, Rita M. Lopidia, Luka Biong Deng Kuol, John Ashworth, Angelina Bazugba, and Malish John Peter on South Sudan’s experiences with peacemaking and peace agreements, providing both a social and historical context, as well as an analysis of the specific peace processes. These papers offer a critical evaluation of South Sudan’s political crises, its experience with peace deals, and offers innovative solutions for the bumpy road ahead as South Sudan seeks once more to implement an imperfect deal. The authors make it clear that the contemporary history of South Sudan has been that of conflict and civil wars (1955–1972, 1983–2005, 2013–Current) with the Republic of Sudan to the north and with itself after securing independence in 2011. This issue highlights lessons learned from The Wunlit Peace Process in 1999, the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS), and finally the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).