Failure of States, Fragility of States, and the Prospects of Peace in South Sudan

Abstract

This article discusses the concepts of failure of states, fragility of states, and the prospects of peace in South Sudan. The article focuses specifically on judicial structural deformities in South Sudan under the qualitative and normative research methodologies, with structural functionalism as theoretical framework. Where preceding works had concentrated their South Sudanese peace-building recommendations on power-sharing mechanisms, this contribution emphasizes a long-term postviolence focus on the building of governance structures. The work recommends that while mediating in liberation struggles, it is critical for the intervening international community to consider the structures on ground, under which an envisaged independent state would thrive, as the prospects of enduring peace in the war-torn South Sudan are more dependent on the creation of such mechanisms than attempting to reconcile the defiant fighters.