The socio-economic dimension of conflicts has enjoyed increasing attention in research dealing with the dynamics of contemporary conflict. The underlying assumption of this study is that the socio-economic dimension of conflict can be hugely informative in terms of providing an understanding as to why peace agreements fail and in that sense can contribute to the resolution of conflicts if taken into account during the formulation of peace agreements. This study explores the way in which conflict theory has dealt with conflict and determines to what degree peace agreements in the Sudan have taken into consideration the socio-economic dimension of the conflict between the North and South Sudan since February 1972 to January 2005. This study proposes a number of recommendations in terms of the peace process in the Sudan with possible wider application to other future peace agreements.

MAIR / Department of Development Studies

MA (Political Science) / Department of Development Studies / This study focuses on the politics of conflict resolution, paying special attention to the role of the international community in resolving the political crisis in South Sudan. The current political crisis in South Sudan has historical connections that date back to the time when Sudan was granted independence by the British government in 1956.These historical antecedents paved the way for the current political crisis which started on December 2013. The study is guided by the International Society Theory or the English School of Thought. The wisdom of the International Society Theory affirms international obligations bestowed on the members of the international community. According to this theory response to crisis of humanitarian nature such as the South Sudanese political crisis is part of the broader debate. Qualitative methods were used in this study because the researcher because they enabled the researcher to gain deeper insights on the research problem. All guidelines regarding ethical considerations were followed in order to avoid being biased and misinterpretation of information. Data were obtained from primary and secondary sources what sources. The study concludes that despite the involvement of many external actors, the conflict is still raging on due to a numbers of reasons such as, mistrust between the conflicting parties and lack of political will to resolve the conflict. Key words: Humanitarian intervention, Conflict, Nation-Building, Coup d’état, Conflict resolution, Horn of Africa, State formation, Responsibility to protect (R2P) / NRF