In July of 2011, the Republic of South Sudan declared independence from the north, effectively ending Africa's longest running civil war. The Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, a primarily Southern rebel and political force, made this outcome possible by entering peace negotiations as a united front. Beginning in 2005 and lasting six years, The Comprehensive Peace Agreement tried to make unity palatable to the south's diverse peoples and interests. While the exercise ultimately failed, it did result in Southern Sudan's nearly unanimous vote for independence. Since then, violence has returned to the region, with many now fearing South Sudan itself will erupt into war. With the regime in Khartoum richly benefitting from factionalism, a durable peace seems impossible, and any resolution to the issues that have long dogged Sudan's southerners -- ineffectual governance, widespread exploitation and resentment, and ethnic marginalization -- seem lightyears away. This volume assesses both the social and political dynamics that contributed to the country's remarkable transformation and the pressures that threaten to tear its statehood apart.