Sudan and South Sudan: All-out war?

South Sudan achieved independence on 9 July 2011. However, many potentially combustible issues between it and the North remained unresolved, including the status of Abyei, border demarcation, debt liability, citizenship/residency arrangements and oil revenue sharing. Since the end of November 2011, the issue of oil revenue sharing has come to a head, plunging relations between the ‘two Sudans’ into deep crisis. South Sudan has halted all oil output, a move which many observers believe could be economically ‘suicidal’. However, this has simultaneously denied desperately needed revenues from oil transit fees to Sudan.