George Clooney: Deal with South Sudan now, not later

Clooney, an outspoken humanitarian and Democrat, told CNN's Jake Tapper Monday that people should not think of the new country as just "another corrupt government."

"The reality is if South Sudan is a failed state, we've seen what influences take over in a failed state, and it's never good," Clooney said. "And that's something we'll have to deal with for generations, if we don't deal with it now. Now, it's easy. It'll be a lot harder in the years to come."

As of last month, more than 60,000 people, most of whom are women and children, have fled the country since fighting began at the end of June, according to the UN's refugee agency UNHCR. South Sudan's government agreed to the deployment of an additional 4,000 peacekeepers on behalf of the United Nations Security Council earlier this month.

Clooney said that wasn't enough by itself.

CNN's Steve Visser and Deborah Bloom contributed reporting.