At an Impasse: The Conflict in Blue Nile analyses the first two years of the renewed conflict— which took place from September 2011 to June 2013. It is largely based on field research conducted in southern Blue Nile and South Sudan in November and December 2012.

The conflict between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-North (SPLM/A-N) in Sudan’s Blue Nile state erupted in September 2011—extending from ongoing combat in South Kordofan, in Jibal El Nouba state. Fighting continued until mid-2016 when both parties declared unilateral cessations of hostilities.