New War, Old Enemies: Conflict Dynamics in South Kordofan (HSBA Working Paper 29)

New War, Old Enemies: Conflict Dynamics in South Kordofan describes the first year of renewed war (June 2011– July 2012) based on field research in South Kordofan and South Sudan in February and May 2012. It focuses on the conduct and dynamics of the current conflict and the primary armed actors, identifying shared weapons and ammunition holdings based on detailed accounts of materiel seized, as well as photographs and first-hand physical inspections.

While the war in South Kordofan is fundamentally a conflict between primarily (Northern) Sudanese actors for control of the state, it has clear crossborder implications—as SAF’s air strikes in Unity state and the Southern fighters’ temporary seizure of the Hejlij oil fields attest. This paper reviews these border aspects of the conflict and their impacts on relations between Khartoum and Juba.

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