South Sudan Independence, Essay Example

The specific of the offered research is that it covers a wide topic of South Sudan independence and its influence on Hydro politics of the East-African region. Since the appearance of the new state has multidimensional implications for the region and neighboring countries, research is conducted with the application of the interdisciplinary approach. Subsequently, sources used for the research describe various aspects of the phenomenon. All resources can be divided into primary and secondary.

Primary resources are initial materials, official documents, statistical data, which describe a certain situation in the framework of a particular  discipline. Among primary resources relevant for this research are, first of all, official UN reports on the exploitation of the River Nile, political, environmental and demographic situation. Final reports of NTEAP and UNEP, emphasizing efficiency of the projects performed in the region and possible solution of the problems would be a substantial source of  relevant, integrated and true information (NTEAP 2011; UNEP 1998). Concerning primary sources in the field of the political situation in the region, official speeches of state leaders, national and international declarations, documents on national priorities and strategies of Hydro Politics, legal treaties of the colonial time and their further revisions will give an opportunity to comprehend the interests of Nile Basin countries in South Sudan in the context of Hydro politics and estimate possible ways of events’ development. Another essential group of primary sources would be Washington archives, which would give an opportunity to explore the issue in the framework of American Foreign policy.

Secondary sources can be divided into groups depending on their subject and overall contribution to the research.  From the perspective of the environmental sustainability, suitable for the research  are works edited by Assefa M. Melesse (2011), which give an integrated description of climate change and efficiency of water use by the Nile Basin countries; book by Terje Tvedt (2010), which concentrates on the historical perspective of the Nile Basin countries’ cooperation and its effect on the ecology. This group contributes to the knowledge background of the actual events and situation behind political priorities and suggestions.

Another group of sources is devoted to South Sudan, its independence and further threat for the regional balance of power. Johnson J.H (2003) and Idris Amir  (2005) pay attention to the analysis of the main reasons for the Civil Wars in Sudan which led to the South Sudan independence. This source is of immense value since it gives a systematic description of tensions in former Sudan and meaning of regional environment in it. Mansour Khalid (2003) like Johnson concentrates on the civil wars in Sudan but makes emphasis on the legal issues of peace treaties and their meaning for the use of water resources of the River Nile and its subsequent influence on the regional Hydro Politics. Book by Sidamhed Salam (2005) puts emphasis on the geopolitical perspective of the Sudan water management and future place of South Sudan in it. Elnur Ibrahim (2009) showed economic dimension of the civil war and its influence on the efficiency of water resources management.

The third group of secondary sources is devoted to the political dimension of the River Nile use and analysis of national strategies in the field of Hydro Politics. Hamdy A. Hassan and Ahmad Al Rasheedy (2007), in their article, paid attention to the importance of the River Nile in Egypt foreign policy and its supremacy in control over it. This research explored Nile as a strategic asset of  Egypt and vital necessity for its survival. For the offered research, it gave an opportunity to realize the meaning of South Sudan independence from the perspective of Egypt reluctance to share Nile with anyone, particularly new and weak state like South Sudan. In their work, Howell P.P. and Allan J.A (1994) conducted an analysis of water management efficiency in the framework of economic and legal issues. They compared colonial laws on water management with the new national legal norms and proved inefficiency of both and need for essential revision of national doctrines and development of a common approach to the water management in the region.

The last group of secondary resources is devoted to the crises management and efficient water resources use. Swain Ashok (2004) devoted his book to the techniques of water conflicts management in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. He emphasized that water conflicts are remarkably similar in escalation and consequences and, thus might be managed with application of previous experiences. On the other hand, M. El-Fadel, Y. El-Sayegh, K. El-Fadl, and D. Khorbotly (2003) concentrated on the water conflict resolution particularly in the Nile River Basin, suggesting regional cooperation and active involvement of UN. This group of source gives an opportunity to predict the development of  possible conflicts in the region and make certain advice on their resolution.

Overall, analysis of the bibliography shows the interdisciplinary approach for the research conduct. The only missing thing for the success of this work is  primary and secondary sources concerning American foreign policy. Their availability would contribute to the global scope of the research.

Bibliography

Assefa M. Melesse, ed. 2011. Nile River Basin. Hydrology, Climate and Water Use. New York: Springer.

Asim I El Moghraby. 1998. State of the environment in Sudan. In UNEP EIA Training Resource Manual. New York: UNEP.

Elnur, Ibrahim. 2009. Contested Sudan: The Political Economy of War and Reconstruction (Durham Modern Middle East and Islamic World Series). New York:  Routledge.

Johnson, J.H. 2003. The Root Causes of Sudan’s Civil Wars. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.

Hamdy A. Hassan and Ahmad Al Rasheedy. 2007. The Nile River and Egyptian Foreign Policy Interests. African Sociological Review 11 (1): 25-37.

Howell P.P. and Allan J.A., eds. 1994. The Nile: Sharing a Scarce Resource: A Historical and Technical Review of Water Management and of Economical and Legal Issues. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Idris, Amir. 2005. Conflict and Politics of Identity in Sudan. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Mansour Khalid. 2003. War and Peace in Sudan: A Tale of Two Countries. London: Kegan Paul International.

2003 El-Fadel, Y. El-Sayegh, K. El-Fadl, and D. Khorbotly. 2003. The Nile River Basin: A Case Study in Surface Water Conflict Resolution. J. Nat. Resour. Life Sci. Educ., vol. 32: 107-117.

Sidamhed Salam. 2005. Sudan (Contemporary Middle East). New York: Routledge.

Swain Ashok. 2004. Managing Water Conflict: Asia, Africa and the Middle East. New York: Routledge.

Terje Tvedt, 2010. The River Nile in the Post-Colonial Age: Conflict and Cooperation in the Nile Basin Countries. London: I.B. Tauris.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 2011. Nile Transboundary Environmental Action project (NTEAP). http://www.sd.undp.org/doc/prodocs/en4%20Overview%20of%20NETAP%20  Achievements.pdf.