Statebuilding in the Peace Agreements of Sudan and South Sudan

ABSTRACT

This article presents a retrospective analysis of the principal peace agreements to emanate from the North–South conflict in Sudan and the civil war in South Sudan. In doing so, it argues that statebuilding practices dating back to the inception of the Sudanese state continue to inform and undermine contemporary efforts to resolve the conflicts in both countries. The article makes a unique contribution by linking the legacy of peace agreements in Sudan and South Sudan to the crises of governance that plague both countries today. In doing so, it seeks to further the discussion on statebuilding as part of a broader strategy of sustainable peacebuilding and transitional justice.

KEYWORDS:

• Peace agreements
• peacebuilding
• conflict
• transition
• Sudan

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Dr. Gene Carolan is a Lecturer in Law at Technological University Dublin. His research interests lie in peace agreement design, transitional justice mechanisms, and conflict analysis. Dr. Carolan was previously the National University of Ireland's Edward J Phelan Fellow in International Law. He holds a Certificate in Mediation from the European Security and Defence College, and has previously presented aspects of this research to civilian and military personnel engaged with the EU's Common Security and Defence Policy.

Notes

1 Mansour Khalid (Garang 1992; in Ali and Matthews 1999a; in 1999b).

2 Attendee at the Khartoum Roundtable Conference, 1965 (Wai 1973a, 1973b; in Ali and Matthews 1999a,1999b).

3 Ty McCormick also argues that ‘[i]n the colonial era, successive administrations in Khartoum regarded the lush, swampy south of Sudan as a backwater – when they weren't plundering it for slaves and ivory, that is’. (McCormick 2015).

4 Christian missionary activities were prohibited, except under license, and Muslim schools sprang up in both urban and rural areas. Arabic became the language of instruction in schools, and southern public servants were made redundant for their lack of Arabic. A recruitment ban for the police and prison forces came into effect in the south, and vacant places in these sectors were filled with recruits from the north.