South Sudan: Failure in State Building and its Regional Implications
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Date
2015-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis deals with Failure of State Building in South Sudan and its Regional
Implications for the security, political, and socio-economy of countries in the Horn subregion.
The study examines the underlying factors that caused civil war in South Sudan
from various angles and perspectives. Qualitative research methodology is used in the
course of collecting and analyzing data by employing both primary and secondary
sources as method of data collection. Primary data are elicited through key informant
interviews from individuals in various institutions that are knowledgeable on the subject
of the study. Secondary sources used in this study include books, journal articles, reports
and pertinent web-sources. Based on the above mentioned sources of data the study has tried to answer the research questions that are composed of historical, political and
economic causes of the conflict between North and South Sudan; underlying factors of
civil war in South Sudan after independence; and South Sudan’s state failure
implications for the Horn region.
The finding of the study has shown that the civil war in South Sudan has far-reaching
security, political, and socio-economic consequences on the peoples and states of the
region. First, since the conflict in South Sudan is linked to the complex conflict system in
East and the Horn of Africa, and Central Africa and North Africa, it is likely to draw in
most of the state and non-state actors in the region. This is likely to result into a crisis in
the region and would bring about a shift in the balance of power in the region and
reshape the regional security architecture. Second, civil war in South Sudan would result
in undermining the democratization processes that are currently underway in most
countries in the region. Third, the countries of the Horn of Africa like Sudan, Uganda,
Kenya, and Ethiopia that have strong economic ties with South Sudan are also adversely
affected by the civil war in South Sudan. Fourth, apart from humanitarian responsibility
to grant asylum to so many refugees by the neighboring countries, refugees can affect
stability in the host countries, and insurgent rebel groups may use the resultant instability
in the border regions. Finally, the conflict has destroyed the ecology of the country that
has led to the shortage of food, drought, famine, and desertification both within South
Sudan and the countries of the Horn sub-region.
Therefore, South Sudan’s neighbors have to be vigilant against the impending civil war
as it is by far the worst security, political and socio- economic threatening episode. Thus,
the international community led by the United Nations, with support of the African
Union, the European Union, the United States, and IGAD should exert pressure on the
warring parties to stop the fighting in order to save South Sudan from descending into a
complex political, and socio-economic turmoil that could lead to total state collapse
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International Relation