ABSTRACT
In December 2013, the newest African state of South Sudan began to descend into deadly political violence. Recent figures estimate that tens of thousands of civilians have lost their lives; more than one million people have been displaced over the past 10 months; some 200,000 people are now sheltering in United Nations (UN) bases, mostly from the Nuer ethnic group; some 1.7 million people have fled across the borders into Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan, and Kenya; and 5.5 million people are in need of humanitarian aid (Human Rights Watch 2014; UNHCR 2017). These reports paint a frightening picture of possible widespread communal violence, which might lead to the demise of the fragile state.
