When South Sudan became an independent country in July 2011, many hoped that Sudan's bloody civil war would finally be resolved. Sudan has seen decades of conflict between the Sudanese central government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a rebel force based in the the south. The fledgling South Sudan, a ward of the international community despite its oil revenues, immediately faced challenges: millions of displaced people hoping to return home, 50 years of neglected infrastructure, and massive food shortages. Add to that a severe malarial epidemic, an ongoing showdown with Khartoum, and continuing violence in nine of its 10 states, and it's no surprise South Sudan has become what many have dubbed the world's first pre-failed state.
