Politics of Ethnicity and Governance in South Sudan: Understanding the complexity of the World's newest Country

AbstractThis little book documents the brief history of contemporarySouth Sudanese politics within the context of the 22 years ofthe second war of liberation. A portion of it explores 17 yearsof the first Sudanese civil war that ended in 1972 through theAddis-Abba Agreement. The book has made the meaningfulanalysis of the governance after the birth of the Worldsnewest Republic (South Sudan). It is divided into seven majorchapters. Each chapter addresses the unique context of theSouth Sudanese political civil religious and military life.Chapter one introduces the book in its etymological contextto the reader and chapter two narrates on ethnic groupingsin South Sudan. Chapter three explores the significant rolesplayed by ethnic groups during the war of liberation in SouthSudan and beyond. This chapter appreciates positive contributionsmade by various ethnic groups in supporting the warefforts.In chapter four the author teased the negative politicsrendered in ethnic context and explained how that negativityresulted in bloodshed of innocent civilians. In this chapter some theories that have aided negative ethnic politics in thecountry have been discussed. Chapter five addresses religioussignificance and explores its negative role in fueling conflictsand feuds in South Sudan and elsewhere in the world. A significantpart of this chapter is dedicated to the discussion of SouthSudan as a failed state in chapter six; and as a country born inthe 21st century many analysts have argued that South Sudanxv