苦土之囚：世上最年輕國家南蘇丹的希望與絕望

by Zach Vertin

蘇丹南部是世界上最邊緣、未開發的區域之一。
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半個多世紀以來，內戰使這個區域陷入恐懼與死亡的陰影，超過200萬人在蘇丹內戰中失去性命。已逝的蘇丹前副總統、「南蘇丹國父」約翰加朗（John Garang，1945-2005）曾這樣質問南蘇丹人：「你想成為自己國家的二等公民嗎？」。2011年的獨立公投中，南蘇丹人以超過98%的贊成，提交他們的答案。
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作者查克．威爾汀（Zach Vertin）於2009年至2017年間，在蘇丹生活、工作以及旅行，見證南蘇丹的獨立，以及接踵而來的衝突與混亂。此外，維汀於2013年至2016年間擔任美國國務院蘇丹和南蘇丹問題辦公室政策主任，與交戰各方的領導人、國際的調解者往來密切，讓札克掌握豐富的第一手資料。此外，維汀在南蘇丹的人際網絡，也提供他多元的見解。
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反思戰爭在政治中扮演的角色，政治理論家對此的提問是「戰爭是否預示著政治秩序的崩潰，還是形成一個國家甚至是維持國家的核心要素？」維汀藉由南蘇丹的例子回應，認為暴力並不意味既定秩序的瓦解，反而是為了奪取仍未定奪的獨立實體而戰。除此之外，對於南蘇丹不穩定的共同體狀態，維汀從政治經濟、國族認同、國際勢力（如美國的外交政策）等多方角度切入，其見解直入核心。這本書將挑戰我們對全球政治的視野。
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將鏡頭貼近參與南蘇丹歷史的重要人物身邊，《苦土之囚》用文字打造一個關於希望、夢想、許諾與殞落的史詩。維汀描繪南蘇丹的獨立，以及在一段蜜月期後，南蘇丹的「解放英雄」們扣起板機，讓他們的新國家重新陷入戰爭的故事。相較於晦澀拗口的學術文字，維汀的文筆以及對人的描繪，使這本書讀起來更像是令人無奈的故事。這本書講述了世界上最為忽視的領土中的權力、許諾、貪婪、憐憫、暴力以及救贖，也講述美國在全球政治局勢上所展現的力量。維汀豐富的經歷將在地與全球的敘事織成一塊，使得本書不僅能帶領讀者一窺南蘇丹的政治發展、了解美國政府在其中所扮演的角色，更能貼近平民百姓的生活以及血淚故事。

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction, History, Politics, Eastern Africa, Sudan, War

560 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Elgin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well written and balanced account of the creation and failure of the country of South Sudan. Zach Vertin has been deeply involved in the country since before its inception and has a deep and thorough knowledge of the economic, tribal, political, and military issues that have crippled South Sudan since before its Independence Day. I also feel that this is a fair account of the tragic (short) history of the nation. Vertin is careful not to favor any one person or faction involved in the nation's turmoil.

One personal revelation for me was the importance of capable, principled people in government. In the US we often take for granted that our elected officials know how to govern and have the best interests of the country (or at least part of the country) at heart. And yes, sometimes we get burdened with an ass like Trump who is completely clueless 9.9 days out of 10, but at least there are enough competent people to prevent him from carrying out many of his extreme desires (like eliminating media that do not support him or making it illegal for anyone non-white or female to hold office or eliminating citizenship for many people in this country.) But turn to Sudan, where it appears that almost none of the new leaders knew much about governing and most of whom saw it as an opportunity to enrich themselves, their family, their friends and their tribes as the expense of the rest of the population. It is sad to think about what South Sudan might have been with their tremendous income from oil if only there were competent and principled people in power.

Vertin did a wonderful job of digging into the South Sudan political and economic situation. He also provided informative personal histories of many of the "players" in South Sudan's history and development. In addition, as well as interviewing and writing about several officials, Vertin also documented the plight of the S. Sudanese poor, who he also interviewed and travelled with.

The US has a long (and usually failed) history of nation building. However in reading Vertin's book I felt that the US had done almost the best they could have in this situation. They were instrumental stopping a long and terrible war and in helping South Sudan earn its independence, but then seemed to step back and let the S. Sudanese take over with the governance. Unfortunately this turned into an economic and intra-tribal disaster. Could they have done better of the US had, say, appointed several seasoned diplomats to coach the new leaders and help them learn what "good governance" means. But South Sudan, left pretty much to forge its own legacy, failed completely. Furthermore, as your might predict, the S. Sudanese blame the US for their own failure, refusing to take responsibility for their own ineptitude.

Great book about a tragic situation. I would have given it 5 stars if the maps were better. I get very frustrated when an author mentions a small village or region and it is not on the provided maps.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since the end of apartheid in South Africa, no political cause in Africa has captured the sympathies and imaginations of both Africans and Westerners alike in the way of the fate of South Sudan and its people. Held in oppression and economic exploitation for decades by the Sudan government in Khartoum, the people of South Sudan were led in rebellion for decades by John Garang, a charismatic Western educated man who managed to not only organize constant military harrassment of the northern government but also to mobilize supporters worldwide for the noble cause of South Sudanese self government. Garang and other in the south effectively sold a narrative of a poor, oppressed and nominally Christian south tormented and harrassed by a greedy, cruel Islamic north. After considerable involvement and pressure from the US and other western groups, the people of South Sudan voted in a referendum in 2011 to declare themselves an independent country. This was met with wild rejoicing and enthusiasm in South Sudan and in the US. Many South Sudanese returned "home" from northern areas, from Kenya and neighboring countries and from the US, where many of the "lost boys" settled as refugees during the civil war had built new lives for themselves.

Sadly, in a pattern familiar throughout Africa, the lack of strong governing structures and the greed of former rebel leaders led to instability in the new country. John Garang's sudden death shortly before independence quickly illustrated the weaknesses of his personality centered leadership. By 2013, the president, Salva Kiir, and vice president, Riek Machar, were locked in military combat for control of the government and the country's oil producing regions. A ceasefire negotiated in 2016 has not dealt with the fundamental weakness of civil society structures and South Sudan, full of promise and hope, has become a place of violence and despair.

Vertin, a foreign policy analyst and former diplomat with the US government, has written a readable but detailed history of Sudan from approximately 1991 to 2016, the timespan in which South Sudan moved from rebellious territory to independent state and on to one of the most fragile states in Africa. Vertin does an excellent job of creating memorable pictures of the major figures involved while touching frequently on the often naive and frequently unhelpful role of Western "activists" in promoting oversimplified narratives and in uncategorically supporting South Sudanese leaders, even when those leaders betray the people they claim to fight for. Of course, as always, the real victims are the ordinary South Sudanese people whose lives are torn apart by unbelievable violence and destruction, still denied the basic services people in neighboring African countries such as Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda take for granted. A tragic story well told.

[Jared · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Our country survives only in words, not as anything of substance. We have lost it all. We have only ourselves to blame.” —Cicero, The Fallen State, 52–43 BC

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?
- The story of America’s attempt to forge South Sudan scratch; from euphoric birth to heart-wrenching collapse.

- This book considers how America became so deeply invested, and why it matters for Americans amid a world in disarray.

WHO IS THE AUTHOR?
- Zach Vertin is a foreign policy expert and former diplomat. He served in the Obama administration as a senior advisor to the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and Sudan South Sudan. Prior to that he was a senior analyst for the International Crisis Group.

TITLE OF THE BOOK
- In the Nilotic folktales of South Sudan, the earth and sky were once linked by a rope. This rope gave the people direct access to God, the heavens, and eternal life. But the rope was severed, tragically, on account of human action. And forever since, the fate of the people has been bound to the earth and to the difficulties, suffering, and mortality that constrain the human condition. This book, too, is a story of paradise lost.

BLUF: SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS FROM THE BOOK
- Recognize that individuals matter, but should not be lionized or unduly relied upon... Be modest in attempting to forge or remake states from the outside, and realistic about what it takes to achieve political and economic viability. Be mindful of getting too close, lest interests be mistaken for friendships. When it comes to expectations, and to measuring success, assess whether the appropriate metric for post-conflict transformation is years, or decades. Appreciate the limitations of what can be engineered from the outside and the dangers of inflated expectations. Pay due diligence to the law of unintended consequences, and be conscious of the awesome responsibility that accompanies such interventions.

- The story of South Sudan is one of triumph, and one of despair; but above all, it is an unfinished story, and one that need not end in tragedy.

MAJOR FACTORS AFFECTING SOUTH SUDAN
- a militarized society, a bloated and unprofessional army, deep ethnic fault lines, economic torpor, financial corruption, a dangerous focus on “big man” politics, and the absence of any unifying national identity.

HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS; CAPITAL AND OUT-LYING AREAS
- Sudan’s fundamental problem—the extreme disparity between the center and the country’s multiple peripheries—remained unchanged, and the SPLM no longer sought to reform it.

- Most politics are local.

PROBLEMS FACING U.S. INVOLVEMENT
- Washington’s intervention in South Sudan reflects both the best and worst of America—its big-hearted ideals and its reckoning with the limits of U.S. influence amid a changing global order.

- Not only had the United States midwifed the CPA and endorsed the SPLM’s exclusive participation in the talks, Washington’s continuing political and financial backing was emboldening an already unaccountable SPLM and eroding hopes for multi-party democracy.

HIGHLIGHTING FAILURES CAN BE SEEN TO REFLECT POORLY ON US
- But there was another reason to mute criticism; shining a light on the South’s missteps—weak governance, security failures, corruption—might also reflect poorly on Washington, its state-making project not yet coming up roses.

LITTLE FOCUS ON SPLM FLAWS
- The increasingly hardline posture against Sudan’s regime meant, in turn, that few questioned the close relationship with the SPLM or its lionized leader. Few sought counter-arguments, confronted the reality of South Sudan’s deep internal divisions, or held the idealized rebels to account for their own egregious acts at home. The SPLM was well aware of this dynamic, and became increasingly adept at lobbying American interest groups.

DEMOCRACY IS A PROCESS; SPLM FAILED TO EVOLVE
- “We never had a democratic culture,” argues one prominent Southern Sudanese critic of Garang. “Democracy is a process, you know? It doesn’t just fall from the heavens into your lap.” In the end, the SPLM was not the kind of political organization that could outlast Garang, or define itself beyond its militarism and opposition to Khartoum. “And that,” says the critic, was South Sudan’s “original sin.”

- the SPLM’s top men were presiding over an increasingly concentrated, corrupt, and authoritarian system that would foster not nation-building and cohesion, but division and instability.

WHY DID THE SPLM FAIL?
- Why did the SPLM fail? Three answers emerge: the military character of the movement, its weak links with its own population, and—most consequentially—a battle for the inheritance of the SPLM after the death of John Garang.

SPLM FAILED TO LEARN FROM HISTORY
- The great irony, however, was that the SPLM, in its heavy-handed ways, appeared to be mimicking the very regime in Khartoum that it had so long fought to escape.

- detained former minister John Luk admitted in front of the group, “shame on us; shame on us for failing to learn the lessons of those African liberation movements that have gone before us.”

SPLM AS A BRAND
- and the response was always the same: “trademark.” The only four letters that mattered in South Sudan were “SPLM;” for many, they were synonymous with liberation, and they represented the only national organization of any kind.

- Riek Machar, meanwhile, had run the numbers. He knew that a largely Nuer vote would never net him the presidency. He needed the SPLM trademark, as its candidate retained a virtual lock on electoral victory. (Riek had even named the impromptu rebellion the “SPLM-In-Opposition,” to the chagrin of many of its members.)

SPLM STILL HAS PIPE DREAMS OF TOPPLING KHARTOUM
- The ultimate cherry atop the independence sundae would be for Sudan’s remaining rebels to finish off the regime.

NO VOICE GIVEN TO DISSENT IN POLITICS
- With the CPA’s establishment of a Southern regional government in 2005, the SPLM dominated South Sudan’s political arena. It observed little separation between party and state, spent government revenue as it liked, and muzzled dissenting voices.

SALVA KIIR IS INCREDIBLY INDECISIVE
- his greatest weakness: indecision. When it came to making the tough decisions required of any leader, Salva was an empty suit.

KIIR MADE THE MISTAKE OF LYING TO OBAMA’S FACE
- Obama saved the cross-border weapons shipments for last. Explaining that the intelligence reports were clear, he told Salva that as a sovereign state, the new government couldn’t be meddling in the affairs of another country. All eyes fixed on the man in the cowboy hat. After a pregnant pause, Salva looked across the table. “Mr. President, if your satellites are telling you we are sending weapons across the border, you had better check on your satellites.”...From then on, Lyman explained, “it was difficult to enlist Obama’s help” with Salva Kiir,

LACK OF ‘WORK CULTURE’, PRIVATE SECTOR
- “They don’t like to work,” he scoffs, summing up the view shared by many of his East African peers who drive cars for hire and work in Juba’s service industry. “It’s just their culture,” he says in a breath of condescension.

- no history of a formal economy, decades of instability, and the dependency resulting from a generation of food aid. Add to that the absence of formal education, the dislocating changes of refugee migration, and the social status associated with a career in the military—which has a way of deterring private sector initiative.

ETHNIC VIOLENCE AND COMPETITION
- From the Bor massacre in 1991, to the internecine battles that followed, to the targeting of civilians in 2013, ethnic violence and competition between the Dinka and Nuer has long been a central thread of the South Sudan’s narrative.

MORE UNITES THEM THAN SHOULD DIVIDE THEM
- The Dinka, together with their Nuer and Shilluk cousins, are known as “Nilotic” peoples—a term that reflects shared linguistic and cultural characteristics among those indigenous to the Nile River valley. In lifestyle, language, culture, and appearance, there is more that unites these predominant cultures than divides them.

SECURITY AND ECONOMY
- If the new government was going to win them back, it would have to demonstrate progress on the two issues that most impacted their everyday lives: security and the economy.

- Lack of trust in government and neighbor alike meant communities felt the need to guarantee their own security.

- Outside of government, there are few livelihoods, opportunities for advancement, or platforms for civic participation.

FAILURE TO PROVIDE ESSENTIAL SERVICES DAMAGES CREDIBILITY
- the government was not only failing to protect them against rival tribes, each complained, it was singling them out more broadly. “No education, no health, no water, no roads, and no positions in government!” one frustrated leader of the Murle community told me, throwing up his hands. “How would you react?”

TURNING TO THOSE YOU TRUST TO HELP PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES
- communities and individuals retreated, physically and psychologically, to the safety of their tribes.

- While the conflict that has engulfed the country today is essentially a struggle for power between the politico-military elites at the center, these leaders are only able to draw everyone into their senseless war because the country’s citizens have long been so deprived of basic necessities and so pitted against one another along ethnic lines that so many ordinary people came to think that their survival rests with giving support, military and otherwise, to their ethnic leaders.

WHAT THE PEOPLE WANT
- They wanted justice for what had been done. They wanted accountability, and better government. They wanted to sleep at night not fearing for their children or their homes or their cattle. They wanted schools and healthcare and a chance to put food on the table. They wanted to see their national revenue spent on a road to their village. They were tired of watching from the outside as a small group of self-entitled big men simply shared the spoils among themselves, dictated the direction of their country, and abused anyone who objected.

LACK OF A ‘SOCIAL CONTRACT’
- But for many in villages like Koang’s, a more basic ingredient—a social contract—was missing. Most Southerners had little or no experience of a government that delivered services, provided security, or promoted the general welfare. For them, it was alien.

FOR A LONG TIME, ESSENTIALS PROVIDED BY EXTERNAL ENTITIES; ENCOURAGED DEPENDENCY
- For decades, food and basic services had been provided by the United Nations and Western aid groups.

- Its interventions had saved many lives, and done a great deal of good, but its presence had also reinforced a kind of external dependency, warped power dynamics, and clouded notions of sovereignty even before the country was born.

SOUTH SUDANESE GOVERNMENT LACKS A ‘MONOPOLY ON VIOLENCE’
- Social scientists like Germany’s Max Weber had long identified a “monopoly on violence” as the single most defining characteristic of the modern state, a concept refined in the twentieth century but rooted as far back as Thomas Hobbes’ landmark treatise, Leviathan, in 1651. South Sudan’s government enjoyed no such monopoly.

- In this way, the violence did not represent the collapse of an established order; instead, it was a fight to capture an entity still up for grabs.

UNSUSTAINABLE PRACTICE OF BUYING LOYALTY FROM COMPETITION
- Born during the fractious civil war, and continued through the interim period, the pattern was well-established: dissatisfied commander instigates violence, weak central government buys back his loyalty. The armed entrepreneur might score a promotion in rank, a suitcase of cash, salaries for his fighters, or increased control over his local community. The buyout program purchased a temporary peace, but it also gave others incentive to follow suit. And they did. The political leadership in Juba knew the practice was unsustainable, but it was a hard policy to break.

BATTLE OF NARRATIVES (INFO OPS)
- Competing narratives meant each party had a different idea as to the origins of the conflict, and thus to its solution.

- Like so many of his government colleagues, he has come to believe the core elements of the narrative he’s just presented. Dueling narratives emerged during the first months of the conflict and solidified over the course of the war.

GOVERNMENT LACKS EXPERIENCED, COMPETENT INDIVIDUALS
- a problem rooted even deeper than corruption: a dearth of experience.

LACK OF A SOUTH SUDANESE IDENTITY
- States also coalesce around organizing principles and shared ideas—the glue that binds citizens together and informs what it means to think of oneself as “South Sudanese.”

SOUTH SUDANESE NEED OPPORTUNITIES TO BE AROUND DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE TO FIND COMMONALITIES
- “Why are you different? Why do you think differently than most?” I ask... there is a second and more fundamental answer: exposure. During Koang’s time training as a child soldier, and later when he received a scholarship to study, he was living alongside Dinkas, Equatorians, and many others from across South Sudan. “We became one family. And I saw that we are all just the same…

ACCESS DENIALS CAUSED, IN PART, BY CRITICISM
- Rather than breaking the cycles of deadly violence, the national army was being employed to exact ethnic revenge. Foreign diplomats began scrutinizing the government’s approach, but Juba was not much interested in criticism. They responded by preventing United Nations peacekeepers from accessing the area, ordering international human rights monitors to leave the country, and eventually shooting down a UN helicopter in the skies over Pibor—a war crime under international law.

AGRICULTURE SHOULD BE A KEY TO SOUTH SUDAN’S FUTURE
- foodstuffs are also trucked in—mostly from neighboring Uganda. Despite the abundance of rich soil, water, and sunshine in this vast country, startlingly little food is grown for commercial sale...the lack of reliable roads and infrastructure means “it costs much more to truck in a pineapple from Yambio,” the state’s capital, “than it does from Uganda.”

- South Sudan had fertile soil, sun, and water in seemingly endless supply. Farming was the country’s ticket to prosperity.

- Farming was the economy of the future, an industry that had figured prominently in the development of many modern states. But with no infrastructure to link South Sudan’s diffuse population or transport goods, an agricultural revolution would require political vision and huge investments.

IMPORTANCE OF CATTLE
- For South Sudan’s pastoralists, whether Duop’s Dinka or Nuer, or others, the cow is sacred. It is the centerpiece of social, economic, and cultural life. Cows represent a livelihood, a food source, a currency, a measure of social status, and a ticket to marriage.

- Cow’s milk is the primary source of food. The South Sudanese rarely eat their cattle, except on special occasions—weddings, historical commemorations, or annual sacrifices to the gods. Even in times of hunger, killing a cow is frowned upon.

- “That ox… it is like a bank account,” he says, “filled with thousands and thousands of dollars.”... When I asked one of Duop’s peers about the importance of the prized ox for the adolescent male, he laughed and offered an equivalent: “It’s just like a teenager getting a sports car in America.”

POLITICAL FIGHT TURNED INTO AN ETHNIC ONE
- It was a zero-sum game of tribal hate, they were told. Kill or be killed. A power-hungry and dominant class of elites had been unable to resolve their differences by political means, and so the population would fight a war on their behalf. By appealing to their tribal bases, Salva and Riek were most responsible for turning a political conflict into an ethnic one.

UGANDA HELPED PROP UP THE SOUTH SUDANESE GOVERNMENT
- Uganda had chosen sides in South Sudan. Rebel forces would be stopped short of the capital. But beyond defending Juba, other governments in the region chafed at Museveni’s aggressive intervention.

HOLDING COMPETING PEACE PROCESSES IS AN INCREDIBLY STUPID IDEA
- In the early months of 2014, while Seyoum, his international supporters, and Southern constituencies pushed for an inclusive process, a competing peace initiative materialized that undermined those efforts. The ill-conceived “Arusha process,” named for the Tanzanian city in which it was convened, sought to negotiate peace in the country by reconciling the SPLM’s competing factions.

- Arusha broke the cardinal rule of peacemaking by offering an opportunity to “forum shop.” If one party did not like where things were going in one forum (IGAD), they could simply take their chances at another (Arusha). Moreover, they could play one forum against the other, in an attempt to undermine both. And that is exactly what they did.

LOTS OF FOOT-DRAGGING IN THE PEACE PROCESS
- Absent credible threats, the warring parties continued to fight, neglect their commitments, and slow-roll the peace process without consequence.

- But neither side missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

LOTS OF INTERNAL PRESSURE ON THE COMPETING LEADERS
- the pressure each man would encounter over the summer of 2015 from within their own camps seemed more immediate and existential than anything foreign actors could throw at them.

- two men who were “prisoners to their own constituencies.”

A LONG-TERM PROJECT OF NATION-BUILDING
- a viable and peaceful South Sudan would be a generational endeavor, and one that would have to be driven from within.

- The quixotic expectations and unrealistic time horizons ignored the reality that nation-states mature over generations, not overnight.

THERE ARE NO SHORT CUTS TO DEVELOPMENT; IT TAKES A LONG TIME
- The implicit expectation was not only that South Sudan’s path to state formation was determined, but that it should simply short-circuit the kind of violence and protracted turmoil that characterized the formation of states elsewhere, including in Europe and America.

US FED UP WITH SOUTH SUDAN
- “Over the past 19 months, the government has abdicated its responsibilities, failed to protect its citizens, and squandered its legitimacy.” The days of unflinching American support for the men in Juba were history.

REASONS US LOST FOCUS ON SOUTH SUDAN
- First, the overwhelming docket of global crises was eating up the bandwidth of the officials most historically associated with South Sudan’s struggle.

- Second, the cause was no longer a “winner.” Washington’s darlings in the SPLM had taken their gift-wrapped opportunity and promptly squandered it.

- The United States would commit billions in humanitarian aid and extend considerable diplomatic efforts to restore peace. But it wasn’t again going to move mountains.

BOTH SIDES START TO BLAME THE US
- Each side fingers America for what they perceive as an unjust outcome.

*** *** *** *** ***

GOOD QUOTES
- “A good intention, with a bad approach, often leads to a poor result.” —Thomas Edison

- “We have made Italy; now we must make Italians.” —Massimo D’Azeglio, Italian nationalist, upon the unification of Italy, 1861

- “The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.” —Anonymous

- “The great question which, in all ages, has disturbed mankind, and brought on them the greatest part of their mischiefs . . . has been, not whether be power in the world, nor whence it came, but who should have it.” —John Locke, The First Treatise of Government, 1689

- Albert Einstein once said, “Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order.”

BONUS
- What is a ‘moral hazard’?: https://youtu.be/HxPfJ0RpVaw

- S. Sudan economy suffered due to self-imposed shut-off of oil after independence: https://youtu.be/y8V_ve8nTSE

- The author talks about the book: https://youtu.be/YMnm7ofafx0

- Social contract concept explained: https://youtu.be/ttu8va9_x1g

[Ingrid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zach Vertin writes the story of South Sudan in such a graceful and clear narrative that even someone as unfamiliar with the country and its history as I could sink deep into the politics and personalities that created the nation and, in short order, feel a certain familiarity. I almost felt like he drew up the story as a character-driven plot, ensuring that every player, from Salva Kiir, to Riek Machar, Taban Deng, and the rest, were all real, relevant people, not just names listed out like a boring history book.

I especially appreciated the book's insight into the role the US played and how it evolved over the decades, especially Obama's conservative attitude towards over involvement, in light of the mess the administration was in at the time in Libya, Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

To nab the quote from the front cover by John Kerry, "South Sudan is to little understood and too little known, even among foreign policy experts. Zach Vertin is a rare exception...An important read."

[Dmcintire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting read. At first I struggled with the author’s jumping back and forth with the timeline. But then it occurred to me that it would have been far more jumbled to try to tackle the events all together in one big flow.
I thought it was a pretty honest presentation of the “players” and the interconnected events as they unfolded.
It was (and continues to be) a tragic depiction of tragic personalities and tragic events that cripple its people.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive chronicle of the decades of fighting, infighting, greed, corruption and stubbornness surrounding the birth of South Sudan. It runs from hopeful to tragic to hopeful with the author, a seasoned diplomat, witnessing all of the promise and mistakes made along the way. It is a good read, but gets complicated with all of the strongmen, tribes and outside nations vying for position in the new country.

[Michelle Bizzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting and detailed account of South Sudan from about the end of the second war with Sudan to independence in 2011 and the ultimate fracturing of the new state in 2013 and the aftermath through 2016. I learned a lot about a place in the world I didn't have much prior knowledge about and thought the author offered some thoughtful reflections on power and state building throughout in between the extensive details of what actually happened.

[David Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vertin is masterful at taking a complicated and multifaceted geopolitical history and turning it into a page-turning novel-esque read. I didn't know much about South Sudan before opening the book, but was quickly drawn in by Vertin's account, which included a behind-the-scenes look at the diplomatic drama, thoroughly-researched analysis of why things turned out as tragically as they did, and deep, on-the-ground reporting, including incisive interviews with civilians. Highly recommend.

[Letitia Mason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I appreciated the clear exposition of a sad and complex topic, the logical construction of the book, and the exploration of the corruption and prevarication which have delayed agreement for so long. The conflict in Darfur, which had previously baffled me, was linked into the overall picture. There have been weaknesses and distractions on both sides but they are explained with compassion.

[Lindsey Pogemiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book with personal stories and narratives woven through the timeline of South Sudan’s difficult path. There is much information to be taken away from this book regarding the politics of South Sudan and the impact it had on its people.

[Anne Cupero · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely excellent book, with a full accounting of the birth of South Sudan, as well as all of the tribal rivalries before and since. What shines through is the people, and what they deserve, which is not the people in power. A sad but important story.

[Winnie Natana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I usually read nonfiction mostly but being South Sudanese who knows so little about my country and the conflicts that happened, I wanted to learn more, and this book gives so much insight. Great read!

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best treatment of the unraveling (and re-unraveling) of South Sudan yet.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely well written. Very difficult content.

[Ben King-Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

A deeply informative book on the breakdown of South Sudan.
The book demonstrates how the cause of Southern independence goes from being a captivating idea for many Westerners to being American policy and how this in turn helps lead to the emergence of a nation grossly ill equipped to cope with the immense challenges it encountered. It also clearly shows how the Western backers who had supported Southern independence, were also ill-equipped to deal with these challenges and proved to be of little help when the country spiralled into conflict.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the spring of 2019, I took a class where we discussed the “outsider”/ “insider” debate in area studies. I am not South Sudanese, but I feel like Zach Vertin’s 2019 book, A Rope from the Sky: The Making and Unmaking of the World’s Newest State was an excellent “outsider” view of the politics in South Sudan in the 21st century. Vertin is a writer who focuses on foreign policy. He writes on topics of international conflict and peace. From 2013 to 2016, Vertin worked in the office of the United States special envoy to Sudan and South Sudan. A Rope from the Sky reminds me of David Remnick’s Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Union, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Vertin writes about the politics of South Sudan, but also interested in how politics influences the lives of ordinary South Sudanese are affected by politics in A Rope from the Sky. He also provides a background to understand the context of the South Sudanese conflict. Vertin is careful to not apply the lessons of South Sudan to other new countries in terms of how to or to not build a ‘new’ countries in the world. In other words, he is careful not to generalize the experience of South Sudan to other parts of the world and vice-versa. The third part of the book probably gets a little too caught up in a blow by blow of the peace deal to end the civil war in South Sudan between December of 2013 and August of 2015 in which Vertin took part in. Other than that, I feel like this book is an excellent introduction to the politics of South Sudan.

[Ken Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book enormously informative. As a reader who has lived and worked in northern Sudan, and who has visited the interior of South Sudan with a South Sudanese friend, I really appreciated Zach’s obvious heartfelt concern for the people, and his extraordinarily broad exposure to and understanding of the situation. I mean, he was directly involved in trying to hammer out peace deals, for crying out loud! I only found that amidst the many characters he had to introduce, and with so many thematic angles he needed to view the situation from, and amidst the frequent zigzagging from one time period to another and back again, I got a bit confused from time to time. But that aside, I felt grateful for the opportunity to learn so much from Zach’s experiences and insights.

[Jordan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Condescending neoliberal junk that obfuscates America's role in South Sudan and geopolitics in general. It's hard to say if it does so out of deliberate dishonesty or ignorant credulity, but I'm not sure which of those would be worse. I should have known better than to read a book by an American diplomat.