South Sudan: World's youngest nation is still at risk

Good news from South Sudan, the world’s youngest state: the two big players in its civil war are back in harness, at least in theory. 

The conflict exploded two years ago when President Salva Kiir accused his deputy, Riek Machar, of launching a coup d’état. Since then 2.8 million people have been made homeless and tens of thousands face starvation. 

Now that Mr Kiir has reappointed Mr Machar as Deputy President, does this mean South Sudan can resume its halting progress towards successful nationhood? We wish it every success, but the omens are not great.

Formed after more than 20 years of civil war with the Muslim-dominated north, South Sudan was born rich, thanks to oil. But the blessing rapidly became a curse as the newly empowered southerners set about looting the nation’s oil revenue. What was sold to the West as a plucky little nation struggling to make its way – and Britain alone has contributed more than £300m – morphed into a kleptocrats’ paradise. As The Independent reports today, the stolen funds could amount to as much as $10bn (£6.9bn). This “failed state tearing itself apart”, in James Cusick’s words, is in desperate need of new ideas if it is to survive.

There is reason to hope that UN sanctions and close surveillance by the IMF may curtail any further plunder, but South Sudan will be on life support and suicide watch for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, let the West reflect that, while it was of vital importance to bring the north-south civil war to an end, liberation movements, the sympathy of well-intentioned outsiders and large quantities of aid money are not sufficient ingredients to make a nation. South Sudan has yet to prove that, left to its own devices, it is more than a scrum of rapacious tribes.