ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the partition of existing states as a conflict resolution remedy, and explains the aftermath of the separation of Eritrea and the secession of South Sudan in their respective rump states, Ethiopia and Sudan. However, despite its significance to the state system, and the prevalence of separatist armed conflicts since World War II, the study of partition of states drew little attention until the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Partition compromises the central government's dominant position in the political system relative to that of the regional governments, provinces, and autonomous territories. The partitions in Ethiopia and Sudan were a result of intertwined local, national, and international level politics in which combinations of internal and external strategic interests were paramount. The successful and internationally recognized secessions of Eritrea and South Sudan appear to have had few repercussions in terms of extending secessionist tendencies in their immediate neighborhood.
