Author John Siebert Published in The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 35 Issue 1 Spring 2014 A total shattering of the peace has led to more than 10,000 deaths and upwards of one million displaced We opened with a minute of silence to remember those who have been victims of violence since December 15, 2013, when the world’s newest country, the Republic of South …
Somaliland: A study in the potential of indigenous resources
Author Christina Woolner Christina Woolner is currently studying for an MPhil in Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. A former program officer with Project Ploughshares, she spent the last two years teaching peace and conflict studies at Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Waterloo, and the University of Hargeisa. The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 34 Issue 3 Autumn 2013 Localizing peace: Reflections from …
Turning a corner? After decades of civil war, some developments indicate Somalia may be heading toward stability
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Volume 33 Issue 4 Since the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, no one has lost money betting against stability emerging in Somalia. Dubbed the quintessential failed state, Somalia descended into anarchy and crisis as clans and warlords fought each other for influence. The country has been effectively divided into the relatively …
Regime change through force? The temptation to prosecute an all-out war between the Sudans should be resisted on all sides
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Summer 2012 Volume 33 Issue 2 The secession of the Republic of South Sudan from the Republic of Sudan in July 2011 did not resolve the complex issues left over from the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) process that took effect in 2005. The past year has brought intensifying military confrontations in disputed border areas, …
Kony 2012: Now that we have your attention
No sense just piling on. The Kony 2012 viral video has elevated awareness of Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army in Africa to stratospheric heights. Over the past few days the critics have weighed in, including many Ugandans. And the folks at Invisible Children, who created the 29-minute video, have responded. We all want the source of insecurity addressed—yes, Kony needs …
South Sudan’s Unsteady Start
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Autumn 2011 Volume 32 Issue 3 The world welcomed its newest state on July 9, 2011. The Republic of South Sudan became the 54th country in Africa, in the culmination of the six-year process outlined in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed in January 2005 between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s …
South Sudan’s New Battle: Building a State amid Internal Violence
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Spring 2011 Volume 32 Issue 1 The creation of a new state—the Republic of South Sudan—and the creation of the state in South Sudan are two very different matters. The first will be easy; the second is a project for generations. An important report written for PACT Sudan (Schomerus & Allen 2010) describes the …
Brinksmanship, Delay and Broken Agreements: The Southern Sudan Independence Referendum
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Winter 2010 Volume 31 Issue 4 It was under a tree in a dusty field in Southern Sudan in September 2008. The research interview was over, but the truck to take us to lunch hadn’t arrived. They asked me to sing a Canadian song. But what? I asked myself. These were 15 young men, mostly …
Diplomatic Uses for IGAD in Sudan’s Referendum Period
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Summer 2010 Volume 31 Issue 2 Having just come through its first nationwide elections since 1986, Sudan now faces the last major hurdle in the six-year transition period mapped out in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA): a referendum on Southern Sudan independence planned for January 2011. Much attention has been focused on the measured public …
Insecurity in Southern Sudan: Prelude to War or the Promise of a New Age?
Author John Siebert The Ploughshares Monitor Spring 2010 Volume 31 Issue 1 As Sudan moves toward elections in April 2010 and the January 2011 referendum on Southern Sudan succession, instability from the escalation of cattle raiding deaths among pastoralists and attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in the south have increased concerns about a return to civil war. Growing violence …