Factors of Secession: The Case of South Sudan

Abstract

Sudan has been politically unstable for most of its post independence period as it suffered Africa’s longest civil war. The country was ‘made in error’ because its borders attempted to amalgamate alienated groups of nations with little if anything in common. The South did not identify with the Arab led Sudanese society. It had fought for an autonomous model of governance since Sudan’s birth in 1956. Among the Southerners there were the advocates for outright secession and advocates for a united Sudan with a decentralized model of governance. After two short federal experiments, the first during the period 1972-1981 initiated by The Addis Ababa Agreement, and the second 2005-2011 initiated by The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the South opted for secession. In 2011, the South overwhelmingly voted for secession and formed Africa’s newest nation, the Republic of South Sudan. The contention of this thesis is that the South’s achievement of secession is a result of multiple factors. The impact of the centre’s policies, the weakness of the democratic governments, the failure of the peace processes, the existence of historical grievances, and the role of international actors constitute these factors. After providing some of the theoretical literature on secessionist movements, the thesis will focus on the case of Sudan. Through data analysis of primary and secondary sources and field research interviews the paper will provide the rationale of the thesis.