Ashish Kumar Sen

 Away from the headlines dominated by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine, a civil war between Sudan’s military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) is pushing the country to the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. As an allegedly genocidal RSF gains the upper hand, a U.N. official has warned that Sudan is “facing a convergence of a worsening humanitarian calamity and a catastrophic human rights crisis.”

On a visit to the Atlantic Council in September 2016, South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai had a clear message for his interlocutors in Washington : “What we tell them is, ‘Look, there is peace. Let us not allow that to collapse.’” Deng spoke even as the death toll in South Sudan’s civil war steadily mounted. The war, which broke out in December 2013, was triggered by the bitter rivalry between South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, and his on-again-off-again First Vice President Riek Machar. A new study backed by the US State Department concluded that at least 382 900 people have died since 2013; millions have been displaced.

The so-called peace deal between South Sudan’s warring parties is in fact a “desperate play” by the country’s two main political actors to fend off international sanctions and extend their hold on power, according to J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center.

The United States Gets Tough With South Sudan  US President Donald J. Trump’s administration, expressing displeasure with the government in South Sudan, has started a comprehensive review of its aid programs to that country.

Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the United Nations, delivered a stern message to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir in their meeting in Juba on October 24: the United States is “disappointed” in Kiir’s leadership and he must not take US assistance for granted. In a stark reminder of the perilous situation in the six-year-old nation, Haley was later forced to hastily evacuate South Sudan after a group of anti-Kiir protesters turned violent.

South Sudan’s First Vice President Blames Roads, Criminals for Blocking UN Efforts   South Sudan’s First Vice President Taban Deng Gai blames the absence of roads, the presence of criminals, and weak governance structures for the obstruction of UN peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts in his country.

The UN Goes to South Sudan. Here’s What to Expect. A sharply divided United Nations Security Council will likely end up delivering mixed messages this week on a rare visit to South Sudan—a nation that is once more on the brink of full-blown civil war, according to the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

South Sudan: Heading Down a Familiar Road to War?   The international community needs to take a more active role in defusing the crisis in South Sudan where gun battles between forces loyal to the president and vice president over the weekend resulted in the death of 200 people, said the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. Contending that South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, and his vice president, Riek Machar, have been forced into a “shotgun marriage” as a result of an agreement on a unity government, Pham, who is director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, said it is unreasonable to expect to successfully impose reconciliation upon warring factions that are not ready for it.

South Sudan: Paging Dr. Riek Riek Machar’s failure to return to Juba this week to take up his duties as Vice President of South Sudan has been met with statements of dismay from the international community, but his no-show should come as no surprise, said the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham. Riek Machar’s failure to return to South Sudan’s capital, Juba, to take up his duties as Vice President has raised questions about the durability of a peace agreement he signed with President Salva Kiir. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

South Sudan: ‘A Problem Child’ Years of conflict, a dysfunctional government, and the international community’s failure to impose tough and meaningful sanctions have contributed to the crippling food insecurity that has caused tens of thousands of people to flee South Sudan, according to the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

Yet Another Peace Deal in South Sudan  The international community must keep up its pressure on rival sides in South Sudan if it wants to ensure the success of a peace agreement President Salva Kiir reluctantly signed August 26, says the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

At Four Years Old, South Sudan is the ‘World’s Most Failed State’  Four years after it won independence from Sudan following decades of war, South Sudan is once again trapped in a vicious cycle of conflict that has turned the world’s youngest nation into a failed state, says the Atlantic Council’s J. Peter Pham.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar failed to resolve their differences by the March 5 deadline not only because they lack the political will to do so, but also because the international community lacks the will to make them, says J. Peter Pham, the Atlantic Council’s lead Africa analyst.

South Sudan Deal Buys Time for Warring Sides, Diplomats, Says Pham  A new deal between South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and rebel commander Riek Machar to end the fighting that has devastated the world’s newest nation over the past year is likely just a delaying tactic that allows the two warring sides to rearm and buys more time for the international community’s so far unsuccessful diplomatic efforts, says Atlantic Council analyst J. Peter Pham.

South Sudan Peace Talks 'Going Nowhere,' Says Atlantic Council Expert Peace talks aimed at ending South Sudan's civil war are 'going nowhere' because the process is mostly led by countries that are party to the conflict, according to Dr. J. Peter Pham, director of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. 

Tribal, rebel clashes wreck areas in South Sudan A tribal conflict is worsening in South Sudan’s largest state, where the U.S. estimates more than 100,000 civilians already have been displaced, according to a satellite monitoring project.

Olympian returns to land of Lost Boys to raise awareness of Sudan refugees’ plight More than two decades after he fled the civil war raging in his homeland, Guor Mading , one of Sudan ’s Lost Boys who is now a U.S. citizen, has returned to South Sudan to use his status as an Olympic athlete to publicize the plight of refugees who pack camps across the eastern African country.

Sudan, South Sudan agree to oil export deal South Sudan will begin pumping oil on March 24, under an agreement signed Tuesday by Sudan and South Sudan that will restart the countries’ oil export industry.

Sudanese rebels offer cease-fire A leader of a Sudanese rebel movement says his group is ready to pause a bloody war with Sudan ’s armed forces so that people affected by nearly two years of fighting can receive desperately needed humanitarian aid.

Performer says South Sudanese police beat, robbed him An internationally acclaimed South Sudanese hip-hop artist and peace activist says he was beaten and robbed by police while visiting his homeland to promote peace.