Post-Secession Sudan - Challenges and Opportunities

Since independence, the quest for a modern state has remained a central issue in Sudanese, and indeed African, politics. In Sudan, the conflict in the South has further compounded the efforts to realize independence and form a stable and functional state. It is to be recalled that, pursuant to colonial policy, Southern Sudan was screened off from the North, which resulted in the South developing, not only a different identity, but also a hostile attitude towards the North. This was to be the most important defining element of Sudanese politics from Independence till Secession.