South Sudan Peace Research Articles

The Role of Regional Organizations in Building Peace In South Sudan: IGAD As a Model

The Role of Regional Organizations in Building Peace In South Sudan: IGAD As a Model

The Peacekeeping Failure in South Sudan: The UN, Bias, and Peacekeeper's Mind by Mark Millar

The book review on ‘The Peacekeeping Failure in South Sudan: The UN, Bias, and Peacekeeper's Mind,’ covers the author Mark Millar's examination of the complexities of the United Nations' (UN) attempts to promote peace in South Sudan, shedding light on the reasons for their failure via painstaking investigation and perceptive analysis. This book provides a thorough analysis of the difficulties and shortfalls that have influenced peacekeeping efforts in South Sudanese context, ranging from examining the psychological prejudices of peacekeepers to closely scrutinizing the structural constraints of the enactment of UN peacekeeping.

Spiritual Contestations: The Violence of Peace in South Sudan, written by Naomi Ruth Pendle

Spiritual Contestations: The Violence of Peace in South Sudan, written by Naomi Ruth Pendle

The Nature of the United Nations Peace Mission in South Sudan

This study delves into the nature of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and specifically explores UNMISS's key roles like violence reduction, political instability, the security situation, social cohesion, reduction of violence, protection of civilians and socio-economic development. The study was guided by two objectives; to assess the objectives and mandates of UNMISS, and to examine the effectiveness of the roles and mandates of UNMISS in addressing the underlying causes of conflict and fostering sustainable peace in South Sudan. The study was underpinned by two theories, conflict transformation and Liberalism institutionalism theory. The study adopted a mixed method design with a target of 3280 and a sample size of 354 which was determined by the Yamane (1967) formula. The study employed purposive, cluster, stratified, and systematic sampling. Primary data was collected through interview schedules and questionnaires which were supplemented by FGDs. While secondary data was collected through a review of various publications. Quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed using SSP version 28 and thematic excerpts respectively. The study concludes that UNMISS has been in the front run to de-escalate hostilities by putting in place several strategies to create a conducive environment that supports dialogue and negotiation. This includes concerted DDR efforts that aim to reduce armed conflicts and prioritize the protection of civilians by fostering trust within the warring communities. Equally, UNMISS has played critical roles in ensuring social cohesion and political stability that are conducive to reconciliation and dialogue at the grassroots level. Peace-building initiatives have been achieved through missions’ commitment to the protection of human rights, social-economic development and availability of resources. The study recommends a substantial increase of resources to UNMISS and strengthening the SSR and DDR programs.

“My Opinion This Time Is Not Good”: Determinants of the South Sudanese Diaspora's Opinion on Its Role in Peace, the Number of States, and the 2018 Peace Agreement

This study examines the factors that influence the South Sudanese diaspora's perceptions of its role in peace, its disagreement with the creation of new states in South Sudan, and its opinion of the 2018 peace agreement. Through a survey conducted among diaspora members in Nebraska, United States, in September 2018 and May 2019, this study finds that participants with a high level of engagement in their diaspora community are significantly more likely to disagree that the diaspora's contribution towards peace in South Sudan is negative, thus viewing their role favorably. Furthermore, participants from the Equatoria region are significantly more likely to disagree with increasing the number of states and to hold a negative view of the 2018 peace agreement. Other demographic variables, such as age, number of years spent in the diaspora, level of education, and level of interest are also statistically significant in various models. This article argues for the relevance of diasporas in politically contentious and volatile contexts such as South Sudan. It contributes to the literature on peacemaking and peacebuilding by using new data to study a relatively under-explored diaspora community.

Interests of IGAD Member States in the South Sudan Peace Process, 2013- 2023

Three civil wars have been witnessed in South Sudan. The first Sudanese Civil war began in 1955 pitting troops from the Central government of Sudan and the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) rebels. This war ended after the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972. The second war began in 1983 and ended in 2005 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between. A referendum in 2011 overwhelmingly voted for the independent state of South Sudan. Two years (2013) after the birth of the South Sudan nation a third civil war erupted. The civil war pitted former Vice-President Dr Riek Machar against the government of President Salva Kirr of South Sudan. The humanitarian crisis and abuse of human rights associated with the civil conflict prompted the international community through regional powers to intervene and restore stability in South Sudan. The war in South Sudan has persisted despite the efforts by IGAD and other players in the peace process. This study this study examines the interests of IGAD member states in the South Sudan peace process between 2013 and 2023. Anchored on the realism theory of international relations this study argued that interests of IGAD member states has tended to slow down the peace process in South Sudan between 2013 and 2023. This study 1takes the form of an explanatory research1design. Purposive and snow balling sampling techniques were used to identify 410 respondents for field interviews. The study purposively identified 385 South Sudanese refugees in Nairobi. A total of 25 other respondents who included; representatives of the warring factions in South Sudan residing in Kenya, IGAD officials, EAC officials and Diplomats from IGAD member states were also interviewed. This study noted that in as much as different players have significantly contributed to the peace process; interveners’ interests have tended to slow down the peace process in South Sudan.

Failed Peace in South Sudan? Exploring Unarmed Civilians and Local Peacekeepers through the Work of Nonviolent Peaceforce

Since the 2013 outbreak of civil war in South Sudan, the conflict has produced orgies of casualties and displacement of millions necessitating a series of mandates of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). Yet, humanitarian crises and civilian protection challenges have not been reversed. To address these deficiencies, this article examined methods of the unarmed civilian peacekeeping as local peace formation and infrastructure involving the non-use of weapons for civilian protection as practiced by the Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP). Adopting ethnographic strands of Critical Peace Studies and utilisation of participant observations in humanitarian accounts with the NP between 2015 and 2019, our in-depth qualitative fieldwork indicates a potentially effective approach to unarmed civilian protection in the country. Our findings illuminate the limited viability of the UN civilian appointed personnel, while making an argument for the compelling efficacy of unarmed civilian peacekeepers in which those affected by the conflict are themselves empowered in their physical protection, the study further recommends the integration of the NP strategies into the current state of peace operation disarray so the current self-fulfilling prophecy of failed peace in South Sudan can be overturned.

Third Party Intervention:Strategi Tiongkok di Konflik Sudan Selatan

This research explores and details some of the civil conflicts that occurred in South Sudan in 2013 and China strategy to seek a peace process that China has never done before. The intervention carried out by China today in civil conflict in South Sudan is an effort to bring the peace process known as third party intervention. This study adopted from third party intervention Ronald J. Fisher by using the contingency model as a tool to analyze the stages of intervention carried out by China in accordance with the conditions of the conflict that occurred. This study uses qualitative methods with secondary data collection techniques. The findings of this study indicate that China has an important role in the peace process in the civil conflict of South Sudan. China active role can be seen that China has taken several forms of interventions such as negotiation, mediation, power mediation, providing development assistance and special consultations. But China success in pursuing peace in South Sudan is when conflict conditions in the level of destruction of China carry outactions peacekeeping as a form of controlling violence and encouraging arbitration and consultation to realize a ceasefire. China success in pursuing peace is in line with the contingency modelthat offers the type of intervention that is suitable at the intervention stage in such conflict conditions. This shows the effectiveness of the contingency model in offering conflict resolution.

A quest for sustainable peace in South Sudan: the role of everyday religious practices, ceremonies and rituals in robust peacebuilding

Since 1955, South Sudan has had intermittent civil wars, and sustainable peace has been difficult to attain. There have been numerous attempts that include major international and national political and economic initiatives. Among the social initiatives, The New Sudan Council of Churches (NSCC), perceived to represent all religious practices and people, was considered an essential tool in uniting all South Sudanese, ending conflicts and achieving sustainable peace both within the communities and nationally. However, the inclusion of the NSCC, which represents mainly Christianity and includes Muslim religious leaders, has not delivered sustainable peace. This article utilises ethnographic data to present a socioreligious perspective. It seeks to argue that other South Sudanese indigenous or cultural religious everyday peace practices of ceremonies and rituals can present a robust peacebuilding initiative in the region. It concludes that the inter-relationships of socioreligious practices, an aspect the NSCC peacebuilding processes ignored, are essential in delivering sustainable peace.

Human Security: The 2020 Peace Agreement and the Path to Sustainable Peace in South Sudan

The South Sudan Peace Agreement signed in October 2020 between rival parties in the South Sudan conflict has elicited mixed reactions. Proponents of the deal are optimistic that finally, South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, will experience peace while skeptics look at previous failed peace agreements and contend that more needs to be done. This article agrees with the latter school by arguing that the 2020 agreement has adopted a state-centric approach, which proved to be ineffective in the past peace agreements. The article utilizes a human security lens to examine the gaps in the October 2020 agreement. It concludes that proper application of the seven principles of human security could be the key to sustainable peace in South Sudan.

Protection through peacebuilding in South Sudan

ABSTRACT Protecting civilians has been the primary raison d’être of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) since civil war erupted in late 2013. Since then, UN efforts to protect vulnerable civilians have focused on a handful of so-called protection of civilians (PoC) sites. While they have unquestionably saved lives, the PoC sites have also absorbed the lion’s share of mission resources, severely limiting UNMISS’ ability to protect civilians elsewhere. The signing of the still-fragile Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) has enabled a reconsideration of the UNMISS protection mandate in light of what remains an uncertain transition. Given the systemic constraints on the UN’s ability to project force in the name of PoC, we argue that UNMISS’ most constructive and lasting contribution to both protection and peace in South Sudan will be through sustained investments in inclusive local-level peacebuilding. Re-orienting the PoC mandate along these lines offers an opportunity to at least partially counteract the decidedly exclusive nature of the country’s current peace process, and to support bottom-up conflict resolution processes that could eventually interact in constructive ways with top-down dynamics.

Failure of States, Fragility of States, and the Prospects of Peace in South Sudan

This article discusses the concepts of failure of states, fragility of states, and the prospects of peace in South Sudan. The article focuses specifically on judicial structural deformities in South Sudan under the qualitative and normative research methodologies, with structural functionalism as theoretical framework. Where preceding works had concentrated their South Sudanese peace-building recommendations on power-sharing mechanisms, this contribution emphasizes a long-term postviolence focus on the building of governance structures. The work recommends that while mediating in liberation struggles, it is critical for the intervening international community to consider the structures on ground, under which an envisaged independent state would thrive, as the prospects of enduring peace in the war-torn South Sudan are more dependent on the creation of such mechanisms than attempting to reconcile the defiant fighters.

Timing of transitional justice mechanisms and the implications for the South Sudan peace process

The South Sudan peace agreement provides for transitional justice mechanisms aimed at fostering justice and reconciliation. They include the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (CTRH) and the Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS). Drawing on qualitative data obtained from interviews, document reviews, and archival research conducted between October 2019 and June 2020 in Addis Ababa, Kampala, and Nairobi, this study delves into the current transitional justice discourses in South Sudan with a particular focus on truth-telling and accountability. The study finds that key contestations relate to when to initiate and implement transitional justice mechanisms, warning that, if not carefully timed, those mechanisms may have a negative impact on the peace process.

Orchestrating peace in South Sudan: exploring the effectiveness of the European Union’s mediation support

ABSTRACTPrevious research has primarily focused on the EU’s high-profile involvement as direct mediator in peace negotiations. Conversely, less attention has been devoted to the EU’s support to third parties’ mediation efforts, which is a significant component of its mediation activities. Addressing this research gap, this article develops a conceptual framework for the systematic analysis of EU mediation support, identifying key mediation support techniques and the conditions for their success. In terms of mediation support techniques, the EU may rely on “endorsement”, “coordination”, “assistance”, and “lending leverage” to empower and steer third party mediators in line with its mediation objectives and values. We illustrate the utility of the conceptual framework for the EU’s support to IGAD in mediating in South Sudan’s civil war. We find that the EU has contributed significantly to IGAD’s empowerment in terms of endorsement, coordination, assistance, and lending leverage. Simultaneously, our analysis also points to important challenges in the EU-IGAD relationship, which relate to challenges concerning strategic engagement with IGAD’s internal politics that are marked by diverging interests and ties of its member states to the conflict parties.

Seeking Peace in South Sudan: The Contributions and Challenges of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD)

The objective of this article is to critically examine the role(s) that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has played in the restoration of peace in South Sudan. Methodologically, the article employed a case study qualitative research design as its main focus is analyzing the contributions and challenges of IGAD in seeking peace in South Sudan. The study revealed that IGAD has played a prominent and leading role in the South Sudan mediation. Since its involvement in the mediation process, it has played its utmost efforts in the South Sudan peace process to end the armed conflict and created the basis for sustainable conflict resolution in non-violent ways. The Agreement on the resolution of the conflict signed by the parties in August 2015, without doubt, is a major contribution to the resolution of the conflict. The agreement outlined a comprehensive plan to end the fighting, frame a post-conflict transition, and to begin the tasks of reconciliation and reform despite competing interests of the parties and diverging views of external partners. Furthermore, IGAD was instrumental in the realization of the IGAD High-Level Revitalization Forum on 21 December 2017. More recently, IGAD has played a prominent role in the signing of the Khartoum Declaration Agreement on outstanding issues on governance and security arrangements among warring parties held on 5 August 2018 in Sudan. Another achievement of IGAD was its ability to manage regional tensions, among its members, which prevented an agreement on power-sharing and security arrangements in the country. Finally, the article concludes that IGAD has achieved success in assisting South Sudan to integrate into the regional peacebuilding architecture.

Estranged Political Relationships: Demystifying the Root Causes of Violent Conflicts in South Sudan

The breaking of peace agreements and the subsequent perpetuation of civil war in South Sudan are sustained by the failure to adopt broad interventions addressing the many layers of the conflict. An understanding of the multiple causes of the conflict can form the basis for a successful and durable peace agreement. To investigate why violent conflict persists, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 29 major stakeholders, including conflict parties, mediators, eminent South Sudanese personalities, scholars and civil society leaders. The responses were grouped into five major themes: historical conflicts, estranged political relationships, power struggles, resource control and ethnic violence (not included in this article). The results suggest that estranged political relationships, characterized by fear, anger, bitterness, distrust and the urge for revenge, are born out of historical conflicts that remain unresolved. The ensuing power struggles and ethnic violence are motivated by the estranged political relationships between the top leaders. Dealing with their estrangements, therefore, forms the base from which historical conflicts can be addressed towards lasting agreements and sustainable peace in South Sudan.

Evaluating the Challenges of IGAD-Led Peace Process of South Sudan

The purpose of study is to evaluate the challenges of IGAD-led peace process of South Sudan. Its objective is to evaluate and assess the challenges surrounding the South Sudan peace process mediated by the IGAD-led team. To address these objectives, the researcher employed qualitative research design to make use of its advantage in gaining detailed information about the issue, to examine reflections, understandings and knowledge of negotiators and refugees by offering an in-depth understanding of a particular problem and challenges. South Sudan became an independent state from the Sudan in July 9, 2011, following an internationally monitored referendum, which was held on 9 January. However, almost after three years of independence, the world newest state backslide into the horrific civil war on 15, December 2013, due to the power rivalry within SPLM/A. The war resulted in the massive loss of human life and property destruction. Consequently, the regional organization, IGAD swiftly launched the peace process on Saturday 4th January 2014, in order to halt the crisis in South Sudan. Nevertheless, the peace process faced enormous internal and external challenges during the peace talk and also at present the Joint Monitoring and Evolution Commission (JMEC) is facing impediment in the implementation process. Based on the findings of this study, the researcher recommends the concerned bodies such as the IGAD, AU, IGAD-Plus and UN should exert pressure on both warring parties so as to speed up the implementation process of Peace Agreement because the South Sudanese are suffering by intense security problems and food crisis associated with the conflict up until now. Besides, the international community should keep out, those who are uncompromising and create impediment to the implementation of the peace accord, from the rank of Transitional Government of National Unity (TGONU). Because the evidences indicate that both belligerent parties leaders are not portrayed their political will and good faith to implement the Peace Concord. Keywords: Conflict, Challenges, Conflict Resolution, Peace, Peace-building, South Sudan DOI : 10.7176/IAGS/78-01 Publication date: December 31 st 2019

First there were 10: the case for and against South Sudan's new states using discourse analysis and argumentation theory

AbstractIn 2015, South Sudan increased the number of its states from 10 to 28, followed by four more states in 2017. The redrawing of internal borders came through presidential decree as South Sudan's violent civil war continued to unfold. This development has led to two ardent voices: one arguing to maintain the new states, and another advocating to reverse them. Applying argumentation theory and critical discourse analysis to news articles, analysis pieces, and press releases collected fromGurtongandSudan Tribunefrom July 2015 to April 2017, this article assesses the argument advanced by both camps and evaluates their implications for peace in South Sudan. In examining the claim, the counter-claim, and their underlying premises, the article finds areas of contention and convergence between the two camps and argues for the compatibility of the values which undergird both positions.

A Second Chance to Deliver Peace through Power Sharing: A Comparative Analysis of South Sudan Peace Agreements

Since 2013, South Sudan continues to be engulfed in violent conflict that has caused untold human suffering. Despite the 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS) signed by the Government of South Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement or Army in Opposition (SPLM-IO), fighting has not stopped. In 2016, deadly fighting broke out at the Presidential Palace which later spread throughout the country that claimed thousands of lives, displaced millions and destoryed countless amount of properties. Equally, the conflict led to increase in criminality by armed men against civilians as well as international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) compounds and personnel. Consequently, government stepped up its surveillance, patrols, and curfew at night in most towns especially in the capital, Juba and set up road blocks to curb the rising rate of crimes. The heightened security measures affected humanitarian aid delivery and fundamental freedoms of movement, association and expression among other issues. The ARCSS brief implementation focused on power-sharing and security control, while relegating some critical reforms agenda such as security sector reforms, justice and accountability, and building local community ownership of the peace process. But most importantly, the guarantors in the region and international community failed to enforce the implementation of some critical provisions in the agreement. At the community level, the violence continued due to historical social injustice, lack of basic social services, communal fighting, repression of minorities, and increased unemployment among the young people. These were issues the 2015 ARCSS implementation did not effectively and timely tackle to build confidence in the new government among citizens. Acknowledging the failure of the ARCSS to stop the conflict and usher new political discourse, IGAD initiated a High-level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) aimed at reviewing the progress of the implementation of the agreement, reconstituting a transitional government and arriving at new realistic timeline that leads to general elections. Since July 2017, IGAD conducted several consultations among various South Sudanese stakeholders including new armed groups to ensure a broad and inclusive peace agreement is reached that will result into sustainable peace, security and stability. Consequently, in September 2018, the Government of South Sudan and various opposition groups signed the revitalized peace agreement to revive the ineffective ARCSS. With this new agreement in place, citizens hope for an overall improvement in security and personal safety, silencing of the guns and new political discourse that guarantees political pluralism, human rights and fundamental freedoms observance and post-conflict recovery. The agreement also provides opportunity for the government and opposition to work together to strengthen the security sector by implementing the stipulated reforms, improve the economy and open space for media and civil society advocacy work. These actions will encourage safe return of refugees and displaced persons for them to rebuild their lives.

South Sudan

While the peace agreement signed in September 2018 has improved the prospects for lasting peace in South Sudan, the implementation of the agreement has become more protracted than envisaged with the recently announced six-month delay in forming a new national unity government. A relapse into war in mid-2016 spread insecurity across the country and severely affected all economic activities and exacerbated the humanitarian crisis and food insecurity. The country is in a serious economic crisis.