SJS2- "The Price of South Sudan's Independence"

Source: De Waal, Alex. "The Price of South Sudan's Independence." Current History (2015): 194-196.
        Print. 2 Oct. 2015.

Author: Alex De Wall is executive director of the World Peace Foundation and a research professor at Tufts University's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He is the author of The Real Politics of the Horn of Africa: Money, War and the Business of Power (Policity Press, 2015).

Summary: The article describes South Sudan's battle for independence and also covers how the new government has failed over the past few years. It describes about the hate that the South felt from the North and that it is the main reason that they decided to pack up their bags and form their own new state. Then it details how Salva Kiir becomes a dictator and runs his new country dry after three short years he is in a political fight which turns into a violent battle and genocide simillar to what became the reason for South Sudan's leave from Sudan. Finally the UN, the AU, and the IGAD step in to try and prevent more violence. They suceed in having the two parties sign a document to end the violence and make it another battle of words setting South Sudan back of for violence.

Analysis: De Waal does an excellent job in providing evidence to support his point that history is repeating itself. He demonstrates how Sudan broke into a civil war between the northerners and tthe southerners. Then he uses this evidence to show how South Sudan is currently tearing itself apart and following the pattern that its mother country, Sudan, had. He keeps this a very concise topic targeting specifically Sudan and South Sudan however he makes his topic comparable to other countries in the fact by describing that political wars do not only happen in one country but happen all over the world. This makes him an excellent writer because by making his work more universal it is easy to compare to other situations which can help a reader to better understand his argument.