Since the middle of December the world’s newest country, South Sudan, has been gripped by violence. What started as a political dispute has escalated into fighting across significant portions of the country. A rebel movement controls important areas and more than a thousand people have been killed. Negotiations between the government and rebels have commenced in Ethiopia, but the fighting continues on the ground. The international community has responded rapidly, including by significantly expanding the size of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, but questions remain about international leverage over the parties. Meanwhile, close to 200,000 South Sudanese have been displaced, with tens of thousands seeking shelter in U.N. bases.

USIP and the Wilson Center discussed the root causes of the crisis, strategies for ending the violence, and ideas for building a more stable South Sudan.

Speakers

Ambassador Princeton Lyman, Panelist
Senior Advisor, U.S. Institute of Peace & former U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan

Ambassador Alan Goulty, Panelist
Wilson Center Global Fellow & former U.K. Special Envoy and Ambassador to Sudan

Kate Almquist Knopf, Panelist
Adjunct Faculty, Africa Center for Strategic Studies & former USAID Assistant Administrator for Africa

Jon Temin, Moderator
Director, Africa Program, U.S. Institute of Peace

Publications related to this event:

• Crisis and Opportunity in South Sudan
• Diversity, Unity, and Nation Building in South Sudan
• Establishing a Mining Sector in Postwar South Sudan
• The Conflict in South Sudan: The Political Context