ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the question of why South Sudan failed to transition to statehood and nationhood despite the availability of natural and human resources therein. It traces the historical evolution of South Sudan's political elite and its ideological bankruptcy and opportunistic rent-seeking attitudes. The chapter argues that the failure of state-building and nation-building in South Sudan is linked to the elite's avariciousness, recklessness, and lack of a national agenda and the absence of strategic thinking, associated with centuries-old conditions of socioeconomic and cultural underdevelopment. It defines the weakness of right-wing politics in South Sudan since 1953 by arguing that the national democratic revolution is the only means of maintaining the viability of the youngest country in the world. Right-wing politics in South Sudan rested on personalities. This had the negative impact of impeding the emergence of political awareness and the development of strong political parties.
