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Three years of civil war have left South Sudan on the cusp of full-scale genocide. The only remaining path to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity is through an international transitional administration, writes Africa Center Director Kate Almquist Knopf in a new report.
A selection of Africa Center analysis of the ongoing drivers of the conflict in South Sudan, and priorities for establishing peace and stability.
“South Sudan is not on the brink of state failure. South Sudan is not in the process of failing. South Sudan has failed,” Africa Center Director Kate Almquist Knopf testified before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the crisis in South Sudan.
Reestablishing stability in South Sudan will require addressing the fundamental drivers of the recurring conflict. Civilian actors who derive their legitimacy from means other than guns need to be given a voice. This should be complemented by peacemaking processes at the community level, demilitarization at a societal level, and security sector reform countrywide.
Majak D’Agoot calls for confronting South Sudan's dominant “gun class,” which inhibits genuine political dialogue and consensus-building.
South Sudan has failed to create the basic institutions of a state, resulting in civil conflict and a massive humanitarian catastrophe. Temporary external administration is required to restore South Sudan’s sovereignty.
Dr. Luka Biong Deng, formerly the Minister of Presidential Affairs in South Sudan discusses the challenges and prospects for peace.
The Africa Center for Strategic Studies convened a seminar with South Sudan conflict mitigation experts to discuss the prospects of the recently signed ceasefire agreement and the priorities for establishing stability in the world’s youngest state.
On January 9, 2014, Kate Almquist Knopf, Former USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa and then-adjunct professor (now director) at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on the volatile situation in South Sudan, assessing the current crisis and offering several recommendations both for short- and long-term gains.
Kate Almquist-Knopf, then-adjunct professor (now Director) of the Africa Center, provides an overview of South Sudan’s struggle to establish a government that enjoys popular legitimacy and is accountable to its citizens.
In the process of recovering from a ruinous civil conflict, Africa’s youngest country faces the threat of renewed conflict, localized ethnic-based insurgencies, a deepening humanitarian crisis, and weak governance structures. Underlying all of these challenges are a weak national identity and fragile state-society relations. Trust and confidence in the government can be generated through a concerted effort to build inclusive coalitions of state and nonstate actors, expand independent media, and construct a rules-based, accountable foundation for the new state.
Missile and armed drone strikes by Houthi militias and hijackings by Somali pirates have destabilized maritime shipping from the Red Sea to the Western Indian Ocean, impacting security and trade for all of Africa.