This briefing note was written by Nicki Kindersley, Amar Jamal, and Machot Amuom Malou for XCEPT.

This briefing explores how elite mobilization, access to resources and labour, and identity-based politics, influence Sudan’s and South Sudan’s legitimacy and future. It finds that racial and ethnic profiling, targeted violence, and collective punishment are not merely incidental, but rather a well-established method for imposing ethnonationalist borders proving to be a common feature of both Sudan’s and South Sudan’s current wars. The briefing provides insights on how understanding the material benefits of racial violence can help explain in which ways elites exploit military labour and ethnic affiliation to expand their economic bases.

Read the briefing note here.