Contenu du sommaire : Sud-Soudan. Conquérir l'indépendance, négocier l'Etat

The local dynamics of statebuilding in Juba, Southern Sudan (2005-2008)The question of statebuilding in Southern Sudan has been framed as a matter of North-South relations – on whether agreements between the leaders of the Government of Sudan and those of the new Government of Southern Sudan can provide the necessary environment for building an independent, secure, and viable Southern state. Through an analysis of disputes over land and political jurisdiction in Juba during the initial years following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), this article argues that statebuilding is contingent on local dynamics.

Encounters of authority. Micro practices of statehood at the South Sudan/ Democratic Republic of Congo border. This article argues that despite a new political-administrative reality in South Sudan, old repertoires of authority remain dominant in local negotiations of power. A skirmish between Southern Sudanese forces and the Congolese army in the village of Bazi on the Sudan/Congo border in January 2008 is used here as an example to investigate a set of relationships between competing authorities. A grounded analysis on the ways local state agents exercise their authority helps to understand the complexities of the everyday practice of state building in South Sudan.

South Sudan and the reconfiguration of the Greater Horn of Africa
The independence of South Sudan is going to reframe several strategic issues. Three sets of questions are looked at in this paper. First, the secession will have a strong impact on North Sudan beyond the relations between the two states. It will also reshape the relations of the two Sudans with the whole region that have already been affected by the Arab Spring and the strong economic growth of the East Africa Community. Although South Sudan may adopt a very conservative stance on its policy toward the region, the mechanical effect of its independence may help redefining the stakes in traditional or more recent regional issues such as the Nile's waters sharing arrangements and the competition of different projects of regional oil economy in the Greater Horn of Africa.

The oil issue in a split Sudan
The independence of South Sudan on the 9th of July 2011 will give a political and territorial sovereignty to the new state. But its economic survival will mainly depend on one key sector : oil, which tightly binds together North and South Sudan. They will be forced to agree as soon as possible on the management of the oil fields straddling the borders and on the use of oil facilities (pipelines and refineries) belonging to the North. The goodwill of both actors is going to be the main factor for the oil sector to function adequately. This will be one of the most important challenges of the independence of South Sudan as it will take time for the two states to cooperate after two decades of a violent civil war.

Breaking colonial borders ? The African Union's role in the secession of South Sudan
In January 2011, as per the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the people of South Sudan overwhelmingly voted for secession. This will make South Sudan the 54th African state on July 9 2011. This article focuses on the continental dimension of the self-determination of Southern Sudan. In particular, it tries to explain how the African Union (AU) could recognize a new independent Southern Sudan, despite its pro-unity stand and strict doctrine on the inviolability of borders. The main factor behind the AU recognition of Southern Sudan's independence was its signature of the CPA. This article further argues that the AU leadership of the process (through the Mbeki Panel) leading to Sudan's separation and the developing of an original Pan-African narrative on it have been additional important factors in order to align AU member states to recognize Southern Sudan as an exceptional case.

Witches and Ministers in Judgment : the Béhanzin Case (Ivory Coast)Witchcraft accusations against Pentecostal churches leaders, known for their anti- witchcraft rhetoric, seem a paradoxical phenomenon, especially when medias give to these cases a political and public dimension. The “Béhanzin affair” broke out in Ivory Coast in 2007, when a voodoo adept, converted to Pentecostalism, accused ministers to use witchcraft. It illustrates a specific context in which such accusations against ministers or public figures question the nation itself.

Social and political meanings of lootings and roadblocks in the post-electoral crisis in Côte d'IvoireThis contribution looks at the social and political meanings of lootings and roadblocks attributed to the « Jeunes patriotes » (JP) supporting Laurent Gbagbo, and to the Forces républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI) close to Alassane Ouattara, during the Ivoirian post-electoral crisis from November 2010 to April 2011. The combination of the description of these acts of violence with an analysis of sociopolitical itineraries and of the motives of their authors shows that these lootings and roadblocks not only obey a counterinsurgency strategy to keep power by street demonstrations, but also represent a form of social and intercommunity protest. They serve as an outlet for marginalized and disadvantaged social actors to express their social resentment and frustration.

From New Forces to the Republican Forces of Côte d'Ivoire
The organization of a presidential election has not produced a peaceful conclusion to the Ivoirian crisis. Instead, a violent post-election crisis occurred, during which one of its main actors, the former rebellion of 2002, has been transformed into the Forces républicaines de Côte d'Ivoire (FRCI). The course from the Forces Nouvelles to the FRCI reveals both the transformations within the rebel army and the changes it introduced into the political game. The political contingencies of this crisis have also encouraged the official integration of a heterogeneous group of combatants in the state security system. Today, Ouattara's regime has to face the challenge of the reconstruction of a true republican army.

Lawyers, the old regime and the revolution
On the 14 of January 2011, President Ben Ali fled Tunisia after only one month of a popular insurrection. By participating in the demonstrations, the lawyers have supported the mobilization. The involvement of the Tunisian Bar within the protest movement cannot be distinguished from the ways the regime has tried to manipulate the legal profession. The fear that the Tunisian bar might be politicized led the Ben Ali regime to harass the profession. In doing so, he has invonluntarily influenced a majority of lawyers to openly criticize its regime.