The Challenge of Governance in South Sudan: Corruption, Peacebuilding, and Foreign Intervention

205 Pages·2018·3.978 MB·English

by  Steven C Roach, Derrick K. Hudson

The Challenge of Governance in
South Sudan
South Sudan is one of the world’s most divided and unstable countries. Since
achieving statehood in 2011, the country has plunged into civil war and become
the scene of some of the worst human rights abuses on the African continent.
Despite ongoing political turmoil, states and international institutions have
pledged enormous resources to stabilize the country and shore up the current
peace process, but have had limited influence in dealing with the effects of
rampant corruption and factionalism. The Challenge of Governance in South
Sudan examines the factors that continue to haunt peacebuilding efforts, includ
ing the domination of the SPLM/A, factionalization, corruption, human rights
atrocities, an ineffective constitution, and the role of international actors. It
brings together a diverse set of leading scholars to reflect on these factors and
propose ways of promoting peace and stability in South Sudan.
In particular, the book asks whether the disparity between domestic priorities/
policies and foreign intervention strategies has prevented the peace process from
moving forward. The contributors probe this issue by addressing the flaws of past
peace agreements, poor governance, a weakly articulated peacekeeping mission,
US foreign policy, and a lack of moral accountability. This book is perfect for
students, scholars and policy makers with an interest in the challenges faced by
the world’s newest country.
Steven C. Roach is Professor of International Relations at the University of
South Florida-Tampa, USA.
Derrick K. Hudson is Associate Teaching Professor of International Relations
at Colorado School of Mines, USA.
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The Challenge of Governance in South Sudan
Corruption, Peacebuilding, and Foreign Intervention
Edited by Steven C. Roach and Derrick K. Hudson
The Challenge of Governance
in South Sudan
Corruption, Peacebuilding, and Foreign
Intervention
Edited by Steven C. Roach and
Derrick K. Hudson
First published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, Steven C. Roach and Derrick K.
Hudson; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Steven C. Roach and Derrick K. Hudson to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their
individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and
78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Roach, Steven C., editor. | Hudson, Derrick K., editor.
Title: The challenge of governance in South Sudan : corruption,
peacebuilding, and foreign intervention / edited by Steven C. Roach and
Derrick K. Hudson.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. |
Series: Routledge studies in African development | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018021008 (print) | LCCN 2018031358 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781315158464 (eBook) | ISBN 9781138067752 |
ISBN 9781138067752(hardback) | ISBN 9781315158464(ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: South Sudan–Politics and government–2011– |
Political corruption–South Sudan. | Peace-building–South Sudan.
Classification: LCC DT159.944 (ebook) | LCC DT159.944 .C53 2019
(print) | DDC 962.905/1–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018021008
ISBN: 978-1-138-06775-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-15846-4 (ebk)
Typeset in Goudy
by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Notes on contributors viii
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introduction: the challenges of governance and peacebuilding
in South Sudan 1
STEVEN C. ROACH AND DERRICK K. HUDSON
PART I
Factionalism and the national cycle of violence 15
2 Conflict governance: the SPLA, factionalism, and
peacemaking 17
MATTHEW LERICHE
3 Corruption as resistance: bureaucratic obstruction,
ethno-spatial politics, and capital city planning in
South Sudan 50
NASEEM BADIEY
4 Failed leadership: corruption, kleptocracy, and democratic
exclusion 72
KUIR Ë. GARANG
vi Contents
PART II
Foreign influences and peacemaking 93
5 The role of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in
protecting civilians 95
CHRISTOPHER ZAMBAKARI, TARNjEET K. KANG, AND
ROBERT A. SANDERS
6 Whither or whether US foreign policy in South Sudan? 131
STEVEN C. ROACH
7 South Sudan’s hybrid court: the challenge of redressing
victims of international crimes 147
MOHAMED BABIKER
8 Conclusion: the permanent constitution and the elusive
peace process 165
STEVEN C. ROACH AND DERRICK K. HUDSON
Index 184
Illustrations
Figures
2.1 South Sudan Opposition Alliance letter 21
4.1 Exclusion of the Southern Sudanese 77
Tables
2.1 Timetable of events 24
5.1 R2P and PoC 103
5.2 Types of events in South Sudan 109
5.3 Frequency and percentage distribution of Event Types across
the three counties (Malakal, Bor and juba) from 9 july 2011
to 8 july 2016 111
5.4 Frequency and percentage distribution of Event Types for
UNMISS across the three counties (Malakal, Bor and juba)
from 9 july 2011 to 8 july 2016 111
5.5 Number of fatalities reported by Event Type across the
three counties (Malakal, Bor and juba) from 9 july 2011 to
8 july 2016 112
5.6 Number of fatalities reported by Event Type for UNMISS
across the three counties (Malakal, Bor and juba) from 9 july
2011 to 8 july 2016 113
5.7 The number and percentage of actor type reported by Event
Type for all three counties (Malakal, Bor and juba) from 9
july 2011 to 8 july 2016 114
Contributors
Mohamed Babiker is an Associate Professor of Public International Law,
founder and Director of the Human Rights Center, and Head of the Inter
national and Comparative Law Department at the Faculty of Law, University
of Khartoum. He is the author of Application of International Humanitarian
Law and Human Rights Law to the Armed-Conflicts of the Sudan: Complementa
rity at Mutually Exclusive Regimes (Antwerp, Oxford, 2007) and the editor of
Child Soldiers and Protection of Children’s Rights in Conflict and Post-Conflict
Environment in Central and Eastern Africa (L’Armatan Publishing, 2013). He
has also worked as a legal advisor and Human Rights Officer with several UN
and AU Peacekeeping operations in Sudan such as AMIS, UNMIS,
UNMAID, and as consultant with a number of UN agencies.
Naseem Badiey is an interdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on inter
national development, post-conflict reconstruction, rebel movements, and
state-building in Central Africa. Her recent publications investigate post-
conflict reconstruction in South Sudan, the role of land tenure reform in the
state-building process, and capital city urban planning in juba and Ramciel.
Additionally, she is founder and project director of the Iran/America Oral
History Project, a digital archive that collects personal stories of revolution,
war, and migration from the Iranian American diaspora. As Assistant Professor
of International Development and Humanitarian Action at CSU Monterey
Bay, she has taught courses ranging from theories of international develop
ment, forced migration, dilemmas of humanitarianism, and social media and
extremism. She holds MPhil and DPhil degrees from the University of Oxford.
Kuir ë Garang is a PhD student at York University’s School of Social Work in
Toronto, Canada. His research focuses on International Social Work (Social
policy in Africa) and on issues of Race and Identity and how they affect access
to services. His books include South Sudan Ideologically, The Dying Optimist in
Me, Is ‘Black’ Really Beautiful?, The Pipers and the First Phase, Angelina and
Adut and their Multicultural Trifles, among others.
Derrick K. Hudson is Associate Teaching Professor in International Relations
in the Division of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS), College of
Contributors ix
Earth Science and Resources in Engineering (CERSE) at Colorado School of
Mines. He received his PhD from the josef Korbel School of International
Studies (jKSIS), University of Denver. He is a member of the graduate
faculty for the Master’s in Natural Resources and Energy Policy (NREP) at
Mines. His research interests are in the areas of natural resources and devel
opment in Africa, religion and society in the United States and Africa,
engineering and environmental ethics, engineering education/pedagogy, and
systemic underrepresentation of African Americans in engineering. His next
research projects focus on water security issues for the eastern African ripar
ian states, of which South Sudan is a member state, and participating in a
two-year project (2018–2020) with the Center for Action and Contempla
tion in New Mexico, which will explore the connections between the social
justice and contemplative theological traditions.
Tarnjeet K. Kang received her PhD from the Department of Education Policy,
Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign. She has worked in the fields of education and research for the
State in the United States, Republic of Ireland, United Kingdom, Hong
Kong, South Sudan, and Kenya. Her research primarily focuses on com
munity self-determination in South Sudan, and specifically examines how
this phenomenon manifests in the country’s education and governance
systems. Additionally, as Senior Consultant for a World Bank ethnographic
study, she has conducted extensive qualitative research to capture the cul
tures of South Sudan’s most under-researched ethnic groups. Her recent pub
lications explore diaspora studies, refugee education, the informal economy,
neoliberal decentralization, and responsive research methodologies.
Matthew LeRiche is widely recognized as an expert on conflict and develop
ment with a focus on South Sudan. He is currently the Director of the Global
Leadership Center and Assistant Professor of Global Studies at Ohio Univer
sity. He has worked on security sector reform and the role of international
actors in South Sudan. His research currently examines the role of militaries
and security services in emergent states in Africa. He has studied the evo
lution of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army over the history of
contemporary conflict in Sudan/South Sudan. He holds a PhD with a con
centration in War Studies from King’s College London, and has taught at the
London School of Economics, the Royal Military College of Canada,
Memorial University of Newfoundland and Ohio University. His publication
South Sudan: From Revolution to Independence (Oxford Press, 2013) is widely
read as a key text on how and why South Sudan became an independent
state.
Steven C. Roach is Professor of International Relations and Graduate Director
in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies at the University of South
Florida. He has published numerous peer-reviewed articles and books on
global politics. Among his books are Decency and Difference: Humanity,