Examining some of the defining political, economic, and military trends facing Africa in 2014.

What are the regional implications of a civil war in South Sudan?

Examining the recent energy deal between Sudan and South Sudan, asking the question: is this deal a game-changer for inter-Sudan relations?

As Africa’s newest country sets about building up its own army, political institutions and identity, the threat of renewed conflict with the North still looms.

While official results from the referendum in Sudan will not be revealed until sometime in February, it has become somewhat of a foregone conclusion that Africa’s largest country is on the verge of splitting.

For Sudan, January 9th will bring with it either a sense of closure after decades of civil war or a new wave of chaos in Africa’s largest state.

In the wake of last week’s highly symbolic though hollowed-out election in Sudan, the question on everyone’s mind is no longer whether or not the south will secede in 2011, but how bloody their secession will be.

The Obama administration has rebooted bilateral relations with yet another international pariah, in effect choosing engagement over the morally sound though geopolitically risky course of self-imposed isolation.