This report reconstructs the background to the new peace deal, identifies the biggest immediate dangers to the agreement and suggests some ways of heading off those perils before they risk becoming mortal. It is based on two years of fieldwork consisting mainly of interviews with South Sudanese government and rebel figures; IGAD, UN and Troika state officials; and African and Western diplomats. It argues that sustained and energetic international diplomacy is needed to make the deal stick and spare South Sudan still more years of devastating war.
