The Illusion of Finality: A Critical Analysis of Elite Bargaining and the Implementation of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS)

This paper critically examines the implementation of the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), arguing that its elite-centric bargaining framework has produced an illusion of finality rather than sustainable peace. Drawing on primary data from key informant interviews and document analysis, the study analyses the persistent gaps between formal provisions and practical execution in security sector reform, transitional justice, and constitution-making. The findings reveal that the agreement's implementation has been characterised by strategic delays, the re-entrenchment of pre-war power hierarchies, and the marginalisation of civil society, thereby perpetuating a fragile, elite-managed stability. The discussion contends that without addressing these foundational flaws, the R-ARCSS risks becoming another in a series of unfulfilled accords, offering critical lessons for the political settlement literature in Africa.