This report synthesizes findings from the Rift Valley Institute’s X-Border Local Research Network (2019–2025). Drawing on interviews with hundreds of interlocutors, these studies investigate the causes and consequences of conflict in border areas and how such conflicts connect across borders, including those of South Sudan to its neighbours. The report contends that Horn of Africa Borderlands are configurations of multiple, overlapping boundaries that range from more to less militarized; from shorter to global cross-border supply chains; from relatively simple, dyadic political contestation to complex, multi-scalar political competition; and from demographically homogenous to more heterogenous boundaries. For South Sudan, the author found that boundaries in the Northern Bahr el-Ghazal borderland are geographically, economically and demographically porous, but politically restrictive. Not least, the report highlights policy implications that emphasize the need for nuanced, context-specific approaches. 

Read the report here.