Description
Book SynopsisIrit Back’s book From Sudan to South Sudan: IGAD and the Role of Regional Mediation in Africa comprehensively analyses the full achievements, shortcomings, and implications of IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) mediation efforts in Sudan and South Sudan. IGAD’s active mediation was a primary force behind the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the south and the north that eventually resulted in South Sudan’s declaration of independence in 2011. The euphoria of this historic achievement was, however, almost immediately overshadowed by internal strife, which has, since 2013, escalated to a large-scale conflict in the new-born nation that demanded IGAD’s renewed mediation efforts. The book offers readers new insights and perspectives to apply when seeking to develop a more balanced understanding of Africa’s contemporary conflicts and the efforts to resolve them. More specifically, the book will also help readers to better comprehend the potential role of regional mediation in East Africa, a region with a turbulent history in the post-Cold War era.
Trade Review[...] 'A specialist in conflict management and the role of international organizations in Africa, Back (Tel Aviv Univ., Israel) here details the function of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the long, arduous mediation process that culminated in the breakaway of Sudan's southern region and its reconstitution as the then-newly sovereign state of South Sudan in 2011. [...] 'Well-written and readable, this important case study is likely to interest mostly academic and policy specialists on conflict management in Africa and elsewhere'. A. Magid, emeritus, SUNY at Albany, in CHOICE, April 2021 [...] 'From Sudan to South Sudan is superbly written and provides a compelling case study that is at once a primer on IGAD’s role as peacemaker, and also on subregional peace mediation in Africa more generally. As such, it would be a highly suitable companion case for any curriculum in conflict management, or an excellent addition to a course on the politics of Africa or Africa’s international relations'. Christopher Day, College of Charleston, in International Journal of African Historical Studies 54, No. 2 (2021), pp. 248-249
Table of Contents Acknowledgments Acronyms Introduction 1The Emerging Role of Regional Organizations in Post-Cold War Africa 2From Ecology to Mediation: IGAD First Efforts as a Regional Mediator 3We Cannot Negotiate and Fight: IGAD’s Role in Achieving the CPA 4Spring of Hope: IGAD’s Mediation Efforts, 2005–2014 5Winter of Despair: IGAD Mediation Efforts, 2015–2018 6A Comparative View of IGAD’s Mediation in Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, and Somaliland Conclusion Epilogue Bibliography 12 Index
