The Role of Non-State Actors in Shaping the Political Landscape and Influencing Foreign Aid Interventions in South Sudan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47941/jirp.3560Keywords:
Non-State Actors, Foreign Aid, South Sudan, Political Economy, Peacebuilding, Strategic CoordinationAbstract
Purpose: This study investigates the multifaceted role of non-state actors in shaping the political landscape and influencing foreign aid interventions in post-independent South Sudan.
Methodology: Employing a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, the research captures the nuanced realities of aid and governance. The study utilized qualitative interviews with 135 stakeholders and focus group discussions, alongside a quantitative survey of 305 respondents (representing a 93.3% return rate). Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis and inferential statistics to ensure a robust triangulation of findings.
Findings: The results reveal that non-state actors serve as critical intermediaries and power brokers who often facilitate negotiations but can also manipulate aid for political gain, which occasionally undermines state authority and long-term stability. Furthermore, these actors establish parallel governance structures that significantly influence local dispute resolution and security provisioning. This leads to the emergence of hybrid political orders where authority is fragmented between formal state institutions and informal non-state entities. The study concludes that while NSAs are indispensable for service delivery, their influence is double-edged, necessitating a move away from siloed operations toward synchronized engagement.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Policy, and Practice: Theoretically, the study extends Institutional Theory by documenting how "tactical decoupling" occurs in fragile states, where formal policies are adopted for legitimacy while informal networks drive actual resource distribution. In terms of policy, the research provides a framework for the Ministry of Interior and international donors to formalize informal dispute mechanisms and implement shared monitoring systems to provide a transparent audit trail for aid. Practically, the study advocates for a paradigm shift in international interventions that prioritizes local agency and networked governance. Recommendations include the establishment of a joint national steering committee to integrate non-state actors into formal governance frameworks, fostering more inclusive, accountable, and sustainable peacebuilding efforts.
Downloads
References
Abers, R. N., & Keck, M. E. (2008). Re-Representing diversity: The state, society, and "favorable relations" in management councils. World Development, 36(4), 623-639.
Agum, C., & Adofu, I. (2024). Assessing the Impact of Nigerian Government Policies on Building Resilience and Facilitating Transformational Recovery: a Comparative Analysis With Other African Countries. Research Square (Research Square). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3966573/v1
Agwanda, B., & Asal, U. Y. (2020). State fragility and post-conflict state-building: an analysis of south sudan conflict (2013-2019). Güvenlik Bilimleri Dergisi, 9(1), 125. https://doi.org/10.28956/gbd.736103
Ahmed, O. S., Eltahir, Mohd. E., Abdelkareem, A., AlRawashdeh, A., & Ahmed, A. (2025). Is calling the SAF-RSF conflict a ‘dirty war’ an objective description or a moral judgment? A critical analysis of the ongoing war in Sudan (2023–present). Cogent Social Sciences, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2025.2586199
Albrecht, P. (2013). Local actors and service delivery in fragile situations. In Research Portal Denmark (Issue 24). Technical University of Denmark. https://local.forskningsportal.dk/local/dki-cgi/ws/cris-link?src=diis&id=diis-b8658c2d-a108-4b89-a134-1873ab8caa6b&ti=Local%20actors%20and%20service%20delivery%20in%20fragile%20situations
Ali, K., Asmoni, M. N. A. M., Misnan, M. S., & Shaarani, A. S. B. M. (2025). Water Infrastructure and Facilities in Africa: An Integrated Overview and Approach to Addressing Issues in Governance, Sustainability, and Technology. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 7087. https://doi.org/10.47772/ijriss.2025.909000580
Andrews, M., Pritchett, L., & Woolcock, M. (2015). The Challenge of Building (Real) State Capability. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2700331
Badaru, K. A., & Adu, E. O. (2021). The Political Awareness and Participation of University Students in post-Apartheid South Africa. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 6(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.46303/ressat.2021.22
Bakonyi, J. (2019). Failing states and statebuilding. In Routledge eBooks (p. 313). Informa. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315545288-21
Bisetsa, E., Ya-Bititi, G. C.-M., Mumararungu, I., Okot, J., & Burny, P. (2024). Advancing household resilience to recurring shocks: monitoring and early warning of manmade and natural disasters in Ulang County, South Sudan. African Journal of Food Agriculture Nutrition and Development, 24(12), 25309. https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.137.24880
Bizhan, N. (2022). Introduction. In Routledge eBooks (p. 1). Informa. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003297697-1
Brownlee, J. (2005). Imperial Designs, Empirical Dilemmas: Why Foreign-Led State Building Fails. https://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/publications/imperial_designs_empirical_dilemmas_why_foreignled_state_building_fails
Campbell, S. P., & Matanock, A. M. (2024). Weapons of the weak state: How post-conflict states shape international statebuilding. The Review of International Organizations, 19(3), 469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11558-024-09546-3
Ceesay, A., & Asmorawati, S. (2025). Beyond the Peace Agreement: Institutional Weakness and Governance Challenges in Post-Conflict South Sudan. Journal of Asian and African Studies. https://doi.org/10.1177/00219096251376658
Christensen, M. E. B. (2023). Museums and the securitization of cultural heritage: The role of the museum sector in protection of cultural heritage in armed conflict. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 29(1), 45-61.
Clausen, M. (2016). State-building in Fragile States: Strategies of Embedment. Research Portal Denmark, 353. https://local.forskningsportal.dk/local/dki-cgi/ws/cris-link?src=au&id=au-105d4a9f-f89a-4301-893f-9306bfdc3f58&ti=State-building%20in%20Fragile%20States%3A%20Strategies%20of%20Embedment
Dagold, M., & Stimers, M. (n.d.). The sustainability of developmental programs by the U.S. and China in Sub-Saharan Africa: A comparison of effectiveness. [Details missing—please specify publication details].
de Simone, S. (2016). State-building South Sudan: Discourses, practices, and actors of a negotiated project (1999–2013). [Doctoral dissertation, University of Sussex].
de Simone, S. (2018). Playing the ‘fragile state’ card: The SPLM and state extraversion in South Sudan. African Affairs, 117(468), 561–578. https://doi.org/10.1093/afraf/ady036
Dean, M., & Kent, L. (2018). Hybridity on the Ground in Peacebuilding and Development: Critical Conversations. In ANU Press eBooks. ANU Press. https://doi.org/10.22459/hgpd.03.2018
Dowding, K. (2011). Encyclopedia of power. Sage Publications.
Eisfeld, R. (2012). Radical approaches to political science: Roads less traveled. Journal of Political Science, 17(2), 89-104.
Farah, M., & Sabani, A. (2025). Rethinking Governance Effectiveness: Sustainable Development in an Unrecognised State. Research Square (Research Square). https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7296005/v1
Fisseha, M. (2022). A Qualitative Inquiry into the Socio-Economic Implications of Land Grabs Among the Nuer People in the Gambella Region of Ethiopia. The Qualitative Report. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5523
Florea, A. (2018). Authority Contestation during and after Civil War. Perspectives on Politics, 16(1), 149. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1537592717004030
Freedman, D. (2006). Dynamics of power in contemporary media policy-making. Media, Culture & Society, 28(6), 897-914.
Grant, J. A. (2022). Towards praxes of the region: Agential constructivist approaches to regionalisms. Journal of International Relations, 35(2), 123-145. [Replace with actual publication info if available].
Greener, B. K. (2019). Hybridity on the Ground in Peacebuilding and Development: Critical Conversations. The RUSI Journal, 164(2), 87. https://doi.org/10.1080/03071847.2019.1621492
Hagmann, T., & Péclard, D. (2011). Negotiating Statehood: Dynamics of Power and Domination in Africa (p. 1). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444395587.ch1
Ikenberry, G. J., & Fukuyama, F. (2004). State-Building: Governance and World Order in the 21st Century. Foreign Affairs, 83(5), 164. https://doi.org/10.2307/20034078
Jayousi, R. A., & Nishide, Y. (2023). Beyond the “NGOization” of Civil Society: A Framework for Sustainable Community Led Development in Conflict Settings. VOLUNTAS International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 35(1), 61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-023-00568-w
Jundi, S. (2023). The Impact of Institutional Capacity on Public Performance in Upper Nile State, South Sudan. International Journal of Leadership and Governance, 3(2), 80. https://doi.org/10.47604/ijlg.2168
Jundi, S. (2024). The Impact Armed Conflict on Economic Growth and Sustainability in South Sudan. Journal of Developing Country Studies, 8(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.47604/jdcs.2826
Kaler, A., Parkins, J. R., & Willey, R. (2019). Almost at Home in South Sudan: International Christian Humanitarians and the Theopolitics of Recognition. The Canadian Journal of Sociology, 44(2), 137. https://doi.org/10.29173/cjs29457
Kanneh, A. A., & Awolusi, O. D. (2021). Staff Assignment Rotation and Project Sustainability in South Sudan. Journal of Education and Vocational Research, 12, 38. https://doi.org/10.22610/jevr.v12i1(v).3207
Khalid, U., Okafor, L. E., & Burzynska, K. (2021). Does the quality of health security of a country moderate the link between bilateral tourism flows and the COVID-19 death rate? Journal of Policy Research in Tourism Leisure and Events, 16(2), 227. https://doi.org/10.1080/19407963.2021.1998084
Kumar, V. (2024). This study explores strategic management and governance frameworks for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in agribusiness, focusing on Purvanchal, Uttar Pradesh, a region predominantly reliant on agriculture but challenged by limited infrastructure and re. African Journal of Biomedical Research, 2774. https://doi.org/10.53555/ajbr.v27i4s.4106
Kuol, L. B. D. (2025). South Sudan: The Bumpy Road to Democratic Transition. International Relations and Diplomacy, 13(5), 275. https://doi.org/10.17265/2328-2134/2025.05.005
Lavers, T., & Hickey, S. (2015). Investigating the Political Economy of Social Protection Expansion in Africa: At the Intersection of Transnational Ideas and Domestic Politics. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2598114
Leese, M., & Hoijtink, M. (2019). How (not) to talk about technology. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 44(2), 221-240.
Liaga, E. A. (2019). The local turn in peacebuilding : a critical analysis of peacebuilding strategies in South Sudan. https://repository.up.ac.za/handle/2263/76886
Liaga, E. A. (2024). The complexity of the intersectionality of domestic and international non-governmental peacebuilding organizations in South Sudan. Peace and Conflict Studies, 31, 45–67. (Note: Verify journal and volume details)
McCarthy, D. R. (2023). Infrastructure and the integral state: Internal relations, processes of state formation, and Gramscian state theory. Political Geography, 92, 102567.
McSweeney, M., Millington, B., Hayhurst, L., & Darnell, S. C. (2020). ‘The bike breaks down. What are they going to do?’ Actor-networks and the bicycles for development movement. Development in Practice, 30(4), 482-495.
Moss, S. M. (2019). Leadership strategies of mobilisation and demobilisation in Sudan. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 7(2), 997. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v7i2.869
Nassimbwa, J., Kakuru, D. M., & Mpamizo, M. T. (2022). Locating state actors in violence against children (vac) networks in kenya: a complexity leadership lens. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13, 123. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs132-3202221117
Nineza, S. B., & Scheepers, C. B. (2021). Exploring leaders’ inclusiveness in post-conflict political transitions in East and Southern Africa. Development Southern Africa, 40(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.1080/0376835x.2021.1941780
Nyuon, A. K. (2019). The State, Military and Politics in South Sudan. (Analysis of how military structures dominate the political landscape and influence resource allocation).
Nyuon, A. K. (2020). Governance and Security Sector Reform in South Sudan: Challenges and Opportunities. (Examines the role of non-state actors in security provisioning).
Nyuon, A. K., & Mutunga, S. (2022). The Political Economy of Peacebuilding in South Sudan: Beyond the Revitalized Agreement. (Discusses the influence of international aid and domestic power struggles on the peace process).
Okeke, R. C., Idike, A. N., Akwara, A. F., & Onuoha, B. C. (2021). Failure of states, fragility of states, and the prospects of peace in South Sudan. African Security Review, 30(3), 268-283.
Onapa, S. A. (2020). Estranged political relationships: Demystifying the root causes of violent conflicts in South Sudan. African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, 10(2), 89–105. https://doi.org/10.2979/africonfpeacrevi.10.2.06
Piché, G. R. (2017). Building States, Undermining Public Order? Security Sector Reform in Pluralist Public Order Regimes. https://doi.org/10.22215/etd/2017-12058
Raeymaekers, T., Menkhaus, K., & Vlassenroot, K. (2008). State and non-state regulation in African protracted crises: governance without government? AVRUG-Bulletin/Afrika Focus, 21(2). https://doi.org/10.21825/af.v21i2.5045
Rapisarda, D. L., Steen-Johnsen, T., & Urstad, S. S. (2021). Lived Religion and Nonreligion Among Humanitarians in South Sudan. Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 34(1), 17. https://doi.org/10.18261/issn.1890-7008-2021-01-02
Rodríguez Hernández, E. R. (2019). El papel de los organismos internacionales en el diseño de políticas públicas de desarrollo. Revista de Estudios Internacionales, 24(1), 55-74.
Sanatani, E. (2020). The role of education in creating peace, unity, and a national identity in South Sudan. Peacebuilding Journal, 8(3), 45-63. [Please verify journal and volume/issue].
Simangunsong, H., & Sihotang, D. (2023). The Impact of Economic Conditions on Social Assistance Programs and Poverty Alleviation. Law and Economics, 17(2), 73. https://doi.org/10.35335/laweco.v17i2.2
Simone, S. de. (2016). State-building South Sudan : discourses, practices and actors of a negotiated project ( 1999-2013). HAL (Le Centre Pour La Communication Scientifique Directe). https://theses.hal.science/tel-01635763
Simone, S. de. (2018). Playing the ‘fragile state’ card: the SPLM and state extraversion in South Sudan. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 56(3), 395. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022278x18000290
Slom, F. A. A. (2024). Localizing Peace in Sudan: Grassroots Solutions for Sustainable Conflict Resolution. Journal of International Relations and Peace, 1(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.54536/jirp.v1i1.4019
Sörensen, J. S. (2025). Humanitarian permanence: the political economy of South Sudan’s reign of insecurity. Review of African Political Economy. https://doi.org/10.62191/roape-2025-0007
Stability: International Journal of Security and Development. (2024). Stability International Journal of Security and Development. https://doi.org/10.5334/sta
Stepputat, F., Hoffmann, K., Moe, L. W., & Pradhan-Blach, R. das. (2014). New approaches to foreign aid in conflict-affected countries and fragile situations. In Research Portal Denmark (Issue 26, p. 56). Technical University of Denmark. https://local.forskningsportal.dk/local/dki-cgi/ws/cris-link?src=diis&id=diis-b829fd07-0f2e-4f35-861a-71db0b3fcb83&ti=New%20approaches%20to%20foreign%20aid%20in%20conflict-affected%20countries%20and%20fragile%20situations
Tomalin, E., & Wilkinson, O. (2023). NGO-isation, Local Faith Actors and ‘Legitimate’ Humanitarian Action in South Sudan. Journal of Humanitarian Affairs, 5(2), 40. https://doi.org/10.7227/jha.109
Tuck, C. (2016). The “Practice” Problem: Peacebuilding and Doctrine. The US Army War College Quarterly Parameters, 46(2). https://doi.org/10.55540/0031-1723.2921
Twali, M. S. (2019). The role of identity transformations in comparative victim beliefs? Evidence from South Sudanese diaspora. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 7(2), 1021. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v7i2.865
Twijnstra, R. (2014). On the state of business: trade, entrepreneurship and real economic governance in South Sudan. https://doi.org/10.18174/306987
Ubink, J., & Almeida, B. (2023). Community mediators in South Sudan: Empirical legitimacy and post-conflict rule of law building. Journal of Peacebuilding & Development, 18(1), 59–74. https://doi.org/10.1080/15423166.2022.2149347
Ubink, J., & Almeida, B. (2023). Community Mediators in South Sudan: Empirical Legitimacy and Post-conflict Rule of Law Building. Utrecht Law Review, 19(2), 44. https://doi.org/10.36633/ulr.861
Vermeulen, F., & Madueke, K. L. (2020). Limited Statehood and Informal Governance in the Middle East and Africa. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429504570
Weinstein, J. M. (2005a). Autonomous Recovery and International Intervention in Comparative Perspective. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.997377
Weinstein, J. M. (2005b). Autonomous Recovery and International Intervention in Comparative Perspective. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1114117
Went, R., van Lieshout, P., & Kremer, M. (2009). Doing good or doing better: Development policies in a globalizing world. Routledge.
Willems, R. C., & Borgh, C. van der. (2016). Negotiating security provisioning in a hybrid political order: the case of the Arrow Boys in Western Equatoria, South Sudan. Conflict Security and Development, 16(4), 347. https://doi.org/10.1080/14678802.2016.1200312
Zein, R. M., & Twinomurinzi, H. (2022). Actor-network theory as an organising structure for blockchain adoption in government. Government Information Quarterly, 39(1), 101583.
Zewde, S. M. (2023). Information Management in Disaster and Humanitarian Response: A Case in United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Intelligent Information Management, 15(2), 47. https://doi.org/10.4236/iim.2023.152004
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Mr. Malueth Ayuel Madut, Dr. Abraham Kuol Nyuon
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
