South Sudan: Elites, Ethnicity, Endless Wars and the Stunted State

The elites — whether political, military, or
economic — constitute a determinant force in state formation and the
nation-building project in post-colonial transitions. The absence of a
scientific understanding of the socioeconomic and political
configuration of South Sudan has obfuscated the liberation struggle and
generated  ethnic nationalism and the emergence of a parasitic class
that is completely alienated from the masses of the people.

South
Sudan, the highly hyped youngest state in Africa and the world, is in a
deep social, economic, and political crisis characterised by a
low-intensity civil war, immense suffering and material deprivation of
the people. It has internally displaced hundreds of thousands of people
who live in “protection of civilian” sites in major towns under the care
of United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Three and a half million have
crossed international borders to seek refuge in Uganda, the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

The ruling
elite, completely unperturbed by the deep humanitarian crisis and
apparent near collapse of the state, clamour for power sharing. Together
with foreign collaborators, they have enriched themselves and fuelled
the war through the extraction and plunder of the country’s natural
resources. This book is a critical analysis of the socioeconomic and
political failures of South Sudan’s leaders who have plunged the nascent
state into the abyss.

South Sudan: Elites, Ethnicity, Endless Wars and the Stunted State
is likely to achieve its objective of stimulating debate about the
future of South Sudan as a viable polity. The hope is that readers,
through the debate generated by this book, will rediscover the
commonality that marked the struggle for freedom, justice, and
fraternity, and abandon ethnic ideologies as a means of constructing a
modern state in South Sudan. South Sudan: Elites, Ethnicity, Endless
Wars and the Stunted State is a must-read for South Sudanese
intellectuals who want to reshape the socioeconomic and political
development trajectory.