The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) is engaged in a process of transfor-mation: it is undergoing a conversion from a guerrilla force into an affordable, professional, and disciplined regular force designed to operate under democratic civil control of the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) or, at an appropri-ate  future  date,  as  part  of  a  national  army  under  a  government  of  national unity or its unified successor.1 The milestones for this process are outlined in the SPLA White Paper on Defence, which the Sout

The security forces of the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) are engaged in reform and development processes to improve their ability to respond to current and emerging threats, while facing a lack of resources and growing pressures to be more professional, affordable, and accountable. The objectives, strategies, and plans for reform and development are the subject of numerous policy doc-uments produced in the pre- and post-independence periods.

This Working Paper describes the path that led from the early stages of Yau Yau’s rebellion, through its evolution in the post-independence period, to the signing of the agreement culminating in the establishment of the GPAA. It explores the role of local and international actors in the negotiation process, and reviews the first phases of implementation of the new administrative area, its main challenges and early achievements, and the prospects of peaceful co-existence for its heterogeneous population.

Against a background of continuing war and failed peace-making, this study attempts to get beyond the public face of the organization as represented by those at the peace talks and provide analysis and background of the many dimensions of the SPLM-IO. Specifically, it considers the formation of the SPLM-IO, identifies the organization’s mode of operation and key political and military actors, and reports on its conferences at Nasir and Pagak in formu-lating its direction and maintaining a fragile unity among the fractious rebels.

This study reviews the limited literature on the history, organization, and operation of the white army in the context of the civil war that erupted in December 2013. The present research has two main components. First, based primarily on interviews, it provides a broad picture of the contemporary white army and attempts to give its fighters a human face.

This Working Paper analyses the continuities of the second civil war in the current conflict, as well as new social and military dynamics that have emerged since December 2013. The authors conducted joint and separate fieldwork for the paper in April–June 2014, December 2014–January 2015, and March–July 2015; in addition, they carried out telephone and online interviews with key informants throughout this period and up to June 2016.

The Small Arms Survey’s Mapping Actors and Alliances Project for South Sudan (MAAPSS) held its sixth closed-door webinar on Thursday 26 August.

The Small Arms Survey’s Mapping Actors and Alliances Project for South Sudan (MAAPSS) held its fifth closed-door webinar on Thursday 29 July.

The webinar looked back at the ten years since South Sudanese independence and discussed what the future will bring. Joshua Craze moderated the discussion between Alan Boswell (International Crisis Group), Brian Adeba (The Sentry), David Deng (Human rights lawyer), Nyagoah Tut Pur (Human Rights Watch) and Ferenc Dávid Markó (Small Arms Survey).

The Small Arms Survey’s Mapping Actors and Alliances Project for South Sudan (MAAPSS) held its fourth closed-door webinar on Thursday 10 June 2021.

The Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) Expert Briefings are a 5-part webinar series that is taking place (almost) every Tuesday from 11 May until 15 June 2021 at 2pm Geneva time. Each live webinar briefing features one of our SANA experts addressing contemporary security issues in North Africa and Sahel-Sahara region, and reflecting on the questions received from the audience. The webinars particularly focus on security-related issues in North and West Africa, Chad, Morocco, Libya, and Burkina Faso.