President Kiir has several times in the past pledged not to take South Sudan back to war. He needs to demonstrate this now by doing everything in is power to end the current bloody crisis

Through the years, the discourse about South Sudan has merely focused on power, wealth and armed conflict. The issues of identity, citizenship, unity and constructing the social fabric of the country have never been part of the conversation

Looking ahead beyond an end to the current violence, these academics propose measures that would ensure long-term stability of the world’s newest nation

South Sudan is facing a profound crisis of governance within the ruling party and its military wing, the SPLA. Without addressing serious nation-building issues, democratizing the ruling party and opening up the political space, any temporary solutions will only defer the problems to a later date

What makes African politics particularly fragile is that African politicians inherited weak superstructures from their former colonial masters and failed to dismantle such structures as their political egos sought to step in to the former master’s shoes