Upper Nile is on the precipice of renewed armed conflict. After a lull in violence in the past two months, armed groups are mobilizing for possible confrontation as Johnson Olonyi’s Agwelek forces reposition themselves near key ports on the White Nile, and SPLA-IO and Nuer White Army forces mobilize youth in northern Jonglei and southern Upper Nile. ‘Upper Nile Prepares to Return to War’ — a new Situation Update from the Small Arms Survey’s Human…

Why does South Sudan continue to experience endemic, low intensity conflicts punctuated by catastrophic civil wars? Reporters and analysts often mischaracterise conflicts in the young country of South Sudan as products of divisive ‘tribal’ or ‘ethnic’ rivalries and political competition over oil wealth. More nuanced analyses by regional experts have focused almost exclusively on infighting among elite politicians and military officers based in Juba and other major cities who use patronage networks to ethnicise conflicts….

This document reviews the literature on the history, organization, and operation of the white army in the context of the civil war that erupted in December 2013. Based on interviews with white army members, it seeks to understand their motivation, their understanding of the civil war and the peace agreement and what they want for the future of South Sudan. Download

This paper focuses on Nuer civilians who are fighting on the side of the SPLM/A-in-Opposition in the current civil war, popularly known as the White Army. Doing this the report challenges some prevalent misconceptions about the White Army. Download

This article resents an empirical mapping of the White Army militias as well as a detailed analysis of the disarmament strategies that were implemented for them during the course of 2006. Link to publication

This working paper from 2007 provides an account of the the Nuer ‘white army’ located in central and eastern Upper Nile region. Download

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