This working paper interrogates the persistent implementation gap in South Sudan's 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS). It argues that the agreement, while a significant elite bargain, functions as a 'negotiated state of impasse' rather than a roadmap to sustainable peace. Through a qualitative analysis of primary documentation, elite interviews, and local media reports from 2019-2021, the paper demonstrates how the logic of elite accommodation has systematically undermined critical provisions on security sector reform, transitional justice, and constitution-making. The findings reveal a pattern of deliberate delay and renegotiation by signatory parties, perpetuating a cycle of instability and eroding public trust. The discussion situates these findings within broader debates on hybrid peacemaking and the political marketplace in post-colonial African states.
Abraham Kuol Nyuon (Ph.D) (Wed,) studied this question.