Clear all

Abstract This article offers a longitudinal study of the complex entanglements between infrastructure and sovereignty in the Horn of Africa. By analysing Ethiopia’s imperial transport corridors, the political economy of Djibouti’s Red Sea ports, and the Greater Nile Oil Pipeline between South Sudan, Khartoum, and global markets, we underline the co-production of infrastructure and sovereignty as a defining feature of regional politics in the last 150 years. In a region notorious for the redrawing of…

ABSTRACT South Sudan has a long history of civil wars and intra-communal violence. Northern Bahr el-Ghazal (NBeG) state, including Aweil East County, similarly to other pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities, stood out in terms of intra-communal violence. However, since the second civil war (1983–2005), larger-scale local-level violence has substantially reduced and conflicts are settled in different dispute resolution forums. This paper explores factors reducing intra-communal violence in Aweil East. It demonstrates that the Sudan People’s Liberation…

Analysing South Sudan’s politics of taxation from 1899 to 2023, this article argues that the ethos of taxation in the region has been and remains primarily oriented around predatory and coercive strategies of rule. Patterns of taxation and their origin are presented by considering taxation practices in colonial, post-colonial rebel-led, and independent South Sudan, to showcase how these practices continued to be yielded as a technology of rule, of coercion, and to fulfill the interests…

ABSTRACT Many places affected by violent conflict are also those with the lowest capacity to respond to the impacts of climate change and, therefore, some the most vulnerable. Consequently, it is here where climate change most likely results in social tensions that could escalate into or sustain conflicts. This double burden of compounding conflict and climate risks suggests an urgent need for climate adaptation interventions. However, so far adaptation agendas are often poorly aligned with…

‘Protection of Civilians’ (PoC) has been a dominant focus of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions in recent decades. At the same time, ‘Protection of Civilians’ is a contested and ambiguous concept, with its practical meanings often established in the realities of implementation. The paper explores the concept of ‘protection of civilians’ and its related impact on the everyday experiences of those seeking safety. Using the case of ‘protection of civilian’s (POC) sites in South Sudan,…

As flooding becomes an increasingly common and problematic phenomenon in East Africa, this article provides an overview of community engagement strategies to cope with its effects in Bor in Jonglei State. With the highest rate of flooding in the country, communities in Bor County have had to identify copying mechanisms in the face of flood disaster, among which notable positive ones are diversification of livelihoods, use of traditional knowledge as a weather forecast prediction method,…

This article provides a multidimensional report of the persistent farmers-herders conflict in South Sudan, delving into its historical background, root causes, far-reaching consequences, potential prevention/management strategies and recommendations for actors and policymakers in South Sudan.

The article offers a nuanced account of how identities are negotiated and contested in South Sudan, by focusing on how Murle and ŋalam identities were deployed in different ways in different places in overlapping periods during a time of armed conflict. The article focuses on the 2012-2014 period of war between the South Sudanese government and a largely Murle rebellion. Read more here

This article explores the integration of peace components in H-D-P nexus programming drawing from qualitative examples across four countries, including South Sudan. Specifically, the article proposes an analysis of how local communities are using integrative peace/conflict approaches to enhance resilience in contexts with ongoing violence. Read here

This article in the Horn of Africa Bulletin conducts a thorough analysis of the persistent exclusion of women from decision-making processes in peacebuilding initiatives across the Horn of Africa, employing South Sudan as a case study. The article takes a deep dive into outlining the importance of women’s inclusion in peace processes, not just as a matter of justice and rights, but also for achieving more comprehensive and lasting peace outcomes. Read more here

Curious to broaden your search to Sudan?
Try our sister facility CSF