War to peace transition and arms trade regulations - South Sudan´s relapse into war 2013-2015

Abstract

This thesis examines arms trade regulations and Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programs with a case study on South Sudan. It offers an overview of different approaches towards regime theory and discusses the concept of DDR as security regime. It includes an analysis of the South Sudanese war to peace transition, after the signing of a comprehensive peace agreement with Sudan in 2005, as well as the causes for the relapse into civil war within South Sudan in 2013. The thesis adds the dimension of arms availability and design of the DDR program to the debate. It addresses the underlying historical, economic and social causes for outbreak of civil war, as well as failures in the statebuilding and DDR process. It also provides an overview of the interests, which international and regional actors pursued in South Sudan. It specifically addresses arms sales to the South Sudanese government and non-state actors and highlights the issues small arms and light weapons pose to the country. The thesis finds, that all international actors, providing arms or military support, contributed with their actions to the spread of SALW and to a higher militarization of the country in the years before the relapse into conflict. It concludes that the establishment of an arms trade regime is impossible under these circumstances and that a solution for more regulation might be found on a regional level.