This book is a study of the historical, political, and legal events that led to the secession of South Sudan. After an opening chapter on the historical background of the Sudan from early times until independence, the book gives a brief account of how the British Condominium administration ruled the country generally and the policies adopted by it with respect to the Southern Provinces. It then proceeds to discuss in some detail how the democratically elected independence governments and the country's first military regime tackled North/South relations and the complicating factor of Islamisation adopted by Omar al-Bashir's regime and the detail of the negotiations in Abuja and Naivasha ending with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the interim constitution. The book ends with a two-section epilogue, the first of which deals with the problems still unsolved and continue to threaten peaceful neighborly relations between Sudan and South Sudan, principally Abyei and its Njok Dinka inha

In July 2011 the Republic of South Sudan achieved independence, concluding what had been Africa's longest running civil war. A story of transformation and of victory against the odds, this book reviews South Sudan's modern history.

The 2011 secession of South Sudan spurred hopes for a more just, democratic Sudan, but was followed by new wars and growing unrest. This book examines how the Islamist project has shaped these developments in Sudan, with a particular focus on how divisive policies have driven regional violence as well as the fight against continued marginalization.

This book examines different domestic and international factors that lead to support for secessions. It questions why South Sudan's secession was successfully supported by Western great powers while Somaliland and Western Sahara were not supported. It argues that support for secessions and international recognition have more to do with the great powers' own interests, particularly, the U.S., rather than the fulfillment of the criteria of international law.The analysis examines six competing arguments (hypotheses) such as: history of conflict; agreed framework and commitment of local population; compatible norms and internationalized ethnic politics; status of the mother state in the eyes of the international community; economic benefits, and security and stability interests in the case of South Sudan. A comparison of these hypotheses with the cases of Somaliland and Western Sahara shows unique case of support for South Sudan statehood.

Published in 1973: This thoroughgoing collection of informed and incisive essay brings together for the first time between the covers of a single volume a very wide spectrum of views on one of the key conflicts in Africa today. The problems underlying the whole situation are discussed from extremely diverse standpoints, so that the mass of data is constantly reinterpreted by the several authors, casting differing lights upon this complex tragedy.

Sudan's post-independence history has been dominated by political and civil strife. Most commentators have attributed the country's recurring civil war either to an age-old racial divide between Arabs and Africans, or to recent colonially constructed inequalities. This book attempts a more complex analysis, briefly examining the historical, political, economic and social factors which have contributed to periodic outbreaks of violence between the state and its peripheries. In tracing historical continuities, it outlines the essential differences between the modern Sudan's first civil war in the 1960s and the current war. It also looks at the series of minor civil wars generated by, and contained within, the major conflict, as well as the regional and international factors - including humanitarian aid - which have exacerbated civil violence. This introduction is aimed at students of North-East Africa, and of conflict and ethnicity. It should be useful for people in aid and international organizations who need a straightforward analytical survey which will help them assess the prospects for a lasting peace in Sudan. Douglas H. Johnson is an independent scholar and former international expert on the Abyei Boundaries Commission.

The Responsibility to Protect, the report of the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), focused on three international responsibilities in the area of human security: the responsibility to prevent, the responsibility to react, and the responsibility to rebuild. The report acknowledged the difficulty of identifying countries likely to experience widespread civil violence and then predicting when this would occur. But the authors of this book submit that if ever a case of a “responsibly to prevent” was possible to anticipate, South Sudan was it. A Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) ended the Sudanese second civil war in 2005 with a call for a referendum to be held in South Sudan in 2011 to determine the region’s future, In the event, an overwhelming majority voted for independence for the region. The question that motivated this book is whether the CPA would set in motion a process resulting in yet another brutal conflict, and, if that conflict was widely predicted, what should be the response of the international community in terms of “responsibility to prevent”? Mass media coverage has been identified as an important factor in mobilizing the international community into action in crisis and potential crisis situations; however, the impact of media reporting on actual decision-making is unclear. Thirty-plus years of research has demonstrated consistent agenda-setting effects, while a more recent stream of research has confirmed significant framing effects, the latter most likely to occur in cases where advocacy framing is used. This book examines the way in which the press in Canada and the United States interpreted the potential for violence that accompanied South Sudan’s independence in 2011, and whether or not their governments had a responsibility to prevent.