Assignment: Honors Case Profile

Humanitarian Intervention in South Sudan

I. Overview

Rival South Sudanese factions have fought a civil war since the end of 2013, causing mass displacements, tens of thousands of deaths and widespread hunger. Negotiations between the leaders of these factions are stalled, and as South Sudan's dry season approaches, it signals intensified fighting and a humanitarian crisis of potentially historic proportions. The president has asked you, as a principal member of the National Security Council (NSC), for options on whether and how the United States should pursue a humanitarian intervention in South Sudan.

You will be appointed by your instructor to one of five roles in the NSC as described below.

II. Case Assessment

In your assessment, after reading the case material, you should consider:

1. What is the current situation in South Sudan and what contributed to its emergence? What kind of threat to the country, its people and the overall region does this situation pose?

2. What are the U.S. policy options in this case, and what are their advantages and disadvantages?

3. What U.S. interests are at stake in this case? As a policymaker, how would you prioritize these various interests, and why?

4. Who are Salva Kiir and Riek Machar and what is the basis of their disagreement?

5. What is the "responsibility to protect" and how might it be applied in this case?

6. What is the significance of oil to South Sudan and to this conflict specifically?

7. What are the economic, security, political and other challenges that South Sudan faces internally? How do these difficulties affect the crisis and any international response to it?

Attachment:- Case_Profile.rar