As Sudan enters the final and most critical year of its post-war transition period, the other countries that form the Horn and central Africa are on the alert. Southern Sudan’s self-determination referendum, scheduled for January 2011, could very well result in the partition of the country and the emergence of an independent state in the south. The founding of a sovereign Southern Sudanese state would have profound implications for the region’s political playing field and reshape its security and economic environment.

On the threshold of the self-determination referendum, the African Conflict Prevention Programme of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Conflict Research Unit of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations (‘Clingendael’) jointly organised an expert roundtable with the objective of identifying future challenges and opportunities for a peaceful coexistence and cooperation between (a potentially independent) Southern Sudan and its neighbours. The roundtable brought together a select but diverse group of 37 experts and practitioners, who exchanged information and discussed the north-south question, the prospect for an independent Southern Sudan, regional security challenges and opportunities to promote good neighbourliness in the region. Key aspects of these discussions are captured in this report.

 

This roundtable report was made possible by the Netherlands Institute of International Relations. In addition, general Institute funding is provided by the governments of Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.