The Cost of Conflict: Policy Proposals to End Ethnic Violence in South Sudan

Abstract

In July of 2011 South Sudan became an independent country. Since then, militias associated with several of the country's ethnicities have killed thousands of people. Though the conflict has deep roots and is multifactorial, studies by Paul Collier suggest that a driving force behind any civil war is a low opportunity cost: when there is little to lose, violence becomes more frequent. Using this theoretical framework, and taking into account the history of the country and case studies from other developing countries, this thesis explores policies that the new government might implement to promote peace by increasing the cost of war. These policies are aimed at strengthening local institutional capacity, providing economic opportunities to broad segments of the population, and reforming the current government.