Introduction
South Sudan, the newest country on the planet, was created after a war that had ravaged its mother country Sudan for a long time. It gained independence on July 9, 2011, after the 2005 peace agreement ending the world’s longest civil war (BBC, 2023). As a young country with much potential for economic growth because of its rich oil deposits, many investors, including transnational oil corporations, were attracted to the country. Little did we know that it would become a humanitarian crisis given their historical past under their mother country Sudan in the north (International.Crisis.Group, 2021). The conflict began in December 2013 after an attempted coup orchestrated by the Vice president and proliferated because of grievances that had not been solved for many decades. The divisions along ethnic lines put the Dinka, loyal to President Kiir, on one side and The Nuer, loyal to Vice President Machar, on the other, leaving the local populations who did not lean towards any side in the middle of the fighting. It was marred with sexual violence, destruction of property, and the recruitment of children into the forces (CPA, 2022). In addition to ethnic grievances, the scarcity of resources and services in many oil-rich areas also highly contributed to the escalation of the conflict because the communities that lived in oil exploration areas lacked safe drinking water because of contamination from the oil wells, lack of food because of harsh environmental conditions that did not favor agriculture. The scarcity implored the vice president to suggest that the revenue from oil be decentralized to allow communities in oil exploration areas to benefit from it. Still, the president disagreed and insisted that the funds go to the central government to develop the entire country (Chagutah, 2023).
Having been born from what is considered the longest environmental civil war that left many of its citizens struggling for scarce resources such as clean water, food, poverty, and disease, conflict was inevitable. This led to ethnic and community clashes that put the country’s development at a standstill (Gleditsch, 2015). After the civil war, the economic future of South Sudan depended on the rich oil wells that had been destroyed during the war. South Sudan decided to award contacts to transnational oil corporations to help rebuild oil exploration and transportation infrastructure to meet its citizens' needs and eliminate a recurrence of conflict (Dumo, 2019). In this paper, I discuss a brief background on the conflict in South Sudan and the role of transnational oil corporations in establishing peace at the international, regional, and state levels, focusing mainly on South Sudan as my case study. This study discusses the contributions of transnational corporations in establishing peace in intrastate conflicts with transnational oil corporations as a focus. The measurement of transnational oil contributions towards the establishment of peace is measured by examining how they have contributed towards unity and institutional building, health and education, infrastructural development, and environmental security.
I know transnational oil corporations' contributions to escalating conflicts because they have been named in many countries, including Nigeria, Sudan, Libya, South Sudan, and other Middle Eastern countries. Their operations have led to the growth of corruption, environmental degradation, and illegal arms trade, among the factors that have bolstered conflicts in many oil-rich countries (Ross, 2008 ). While existing literature argues that transnational oil corporations have contributed to the escalation of intrastate conflicts, they have also played a significant role in establishing peace in conflict situations. The availability of limited literature that supports and shows the contributions of transnational oil corporations in restoring peace is a gap that this paper seeks to fill. When I refer to peace, I mean “the absence of personal violence and structural violence” (Galtung, 1969). I argue that transnational corporations contribute to the establishment of peace in intrastate conflicts.
Literature review
Background of the conflict in South Sudan
South Sudan is the newest country on earth whose birth resulted from a long civil war that led to its separation from Sudan. A few years after its independence, South Sudan has had tensions due to deeply rooted, unaddressed grievances between Vice President Machar and President Kiir (Douglas, 2014). These disagreements were the cause of ethnic clashes between the Dinka and the Nuer. With the Dinka on Kiir’s side, and the Nuer on Machar’s side, fighting escalated, resulting in the death and displacement of over 40,000 people. This led to a humanitarian crisis that left many South Sudanese with acute food insecurity, lack of water, and other natural calamities such as floods (Zuroski, 2021). South Sudan’s core grievances trickle down from what was described as the longest environmental war that began in Sudan, South Sudan’s mother country. The harsh environmental conditions are the leading cause of resource scarcity that has led to communal friction along ethnic lines, with each group claiming that they are not benefiting from the available few resources (Gleditsch, 2015). As a new country, its birth was when much expertise was required to build a new nation. Among the sectors in which expertise was needed was the oil sector because oil is one of the most valuable natural resources through which income would be raised to sustain the economy and help in the daily running of the country. Oil is South Sudan’s highest source of revenue (Yugusuk, 2018). The only challenge was that the government lacked human resources with oil management and exploration expertise. This led to openings for external contractors and oil corporations that invested in oil infrastructure, pipeline maintenance, and exploration and production (Shankleman, 2011).
South Sudan is not just experiencing personal violence because of the war. It is also experiencing structural violence because of conflict. This has subjected many South Sudanese to violence, no access to social services such as education, and health care, environmental degradation, and difficult living conditions without meaningful and harmonious relationships (Anderson, 2004). With over 4.8 million children out of school due to inaccessibility and limited provision of education and 8 million people living in abject poverty with little or no access to food, clean water, and health care, this has enhanced violence in communities. Children have also been recruited into the armed forces, and many girls married off (Aufiero & Pur, 2021).
The Contributions of Transnational Oil Corporations in the Establishment of Peace
The continuous evolution of conflict has led to a change in peace-building methods and approaches. In the new post-cold War era, new conflict management approaches, and actors have taken the world stage. The new peace-building actors are International Non-Government Organizations (INGOs) and Transnational (Bercovitch & Jackson, 2009). The leverage of commerce as a tool in peacebuilding has been adopted and used in countries such as South Africa (Westermann-Behaylo, 2009). Transnational oil corporations have been referred to as exacerbators of conflict because of the harm they have caused in various countries. Even though oil is a blessing, it has been termed a curse because of the corruption and blood-stained money financing weapons acquisition. South Sudan is not unique and cannot be isolated from the list. Like many other contributors to the establishment of peace, transnational oil corporations have played a role in peacebuilding because of their investments and the opportunities they create for the people in their areas of operation (Miriri, 2018).
At the global level
Transnational oil corporations have started embracing alternative energy to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. With the influence of globalization, they have tightened ethical, legal, and environmental standards and procedures to mitigate the increase of corruption and conflict around the world. They pay attention to early warning signs and rely on self-reporting measures to enhance peace-building in conflict areas. The decision to adopt alternative energy has reduced the demand for crude oil, significantly contributing to conflict because of its demand and availability on the black market (Ralph & Hancock, 2018). Under their international umbrella, transnational oil corporations have supported many post and conflicting countries through development projects, infrastructure, aid, and environmental protection. Their commitment to support and push for the achievement of sustainable development goals in developing countries and post-conflict countries in South America, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East has significantly contributed to the establishment of peace by tackling the root causes of conflict in the above areas (OPEC, 2005).
At the regional level
Regionally, transnational oil corporations have played a key role in restoring and establishing peace in conflict-stricken regions by investing in entrepreneurial projects that provide employment and absorb jobless youth who would be wooed into joining militias. For example, in 2009, the government of Nigeria started an amnesty program that integrated over 1200 youth in the oil industry for employment through the entrepreneurial opportunities initiated in the oil field (Uduji et al., 2021). Before the birth of South Sudan as the newest country in the world, there had been a long civil war in Sudan that had claimed many lives and led to many crimes against humanity. The main reason for the fight is reportedly territorial, yet the real reason should have been mentioned. The “black gold” (Oil) underground was the main reason for the fighting. It was the source of funding for the conflict, but it also ended the conflict after a peace agreement was signed in 2005. Oil created peace and paved the way for establishing peace in Sudan and the birth of a new country, South Sudan (Anthea, 2011).
At the state level – South Sudan
South Sudan is among the African countries with abundant oil resources beneath their earth’s core. Having gone through a long period of conflict and the break-off from Sudan, Oil was one of the primary resources that the country had and would rely on to rebuild the country (Shankleman, 2011). The presence of oil should be considered a blessing, yet in most instances, it has been referred to as a curse. The challenges, such as corruption, environmental degradation, and the fostering of grievances among communities, are what have made oil be referred to as what it is today. South Sudan is not free from this curse as well (Patey, 2010).
On the day South Sudan celebrated their independence, Transnational Oil companies played a crucial role in restoring hope among the people in various ways. These included the erection of banners around Juba, which was sponsored by Malaysia’s Petronas, The PetroChina, and China National Petroleum Corporation flocked the country and supported local businesses, White Nile Petroleum refurbished and sponsored the Country’s first national team, and the National stadium. Petronas, China National Petroleum Corporation, and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation helped to fund the paving of 60 kilometers of roads and other infrastructure (Anthea, 2011). The oil has been a blessing in attracting investments from all various countries, including the People’s Republic of China. In its third position among African countries with an abundance of oil, it has created a relationship with China that has led to the construction of infrastructure and the provision of other services that have enhanced peace in the region (Kumari, 2018 ).
There are various oil companies in South Sudan, with the main one being the state-owned Nile Petroleum (Nilepet). In addition to Nile Petroleum, companies such as Petronas of Malaysia, the Indian Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and the Chinese National Petroleum Company are present and doing business with the country in oil extraction and trade. There have been many concerns about the presence of these corporations because they have aided the increase in corruption and other human rights violations and crimes against humanity, such as rape. Other corporations have abandoned oil production in South Sudan for reasons related to the above and insecurity and conflict (Campbell, 2019). As the existing literature focuses more on the contribution of transnational oil corporations to the escalation of conflict in South Sudan and not their contribution to the establishment of peace, this paper aims to fill this gap by finding the contributions that transnational oil corporations have made to the establishment of peace in South Sudan.
Methodology
The data used in this research was collected from reports of non-government organizations, oil corporations, and Press publications. Reports from Doctors without Borders (Brauman, 2006), China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC, 2023; Xinhua, 2023), Petronas (Khalid, 2021), and press publications from Xinhua Net and Reuters. The collected data timeline is from 2013 to 2020 because the conflict in South Sudan started in 2013, and many efforts have been put in place to establish peace. The data was qualitatively analyzed and compiled into themes to formulate the below findings.
The term transnational oil corporations is used to refer to the major foreign oil companies that work alongside Nile Petroleum (Nilepet), the state-owned oil company of South Sudan. Transnational oil corporations include Malaysia’s Petronas, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), and India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Peace here is defined as “ the absence of personal violence and structural violence” (Galtung, 1969). The presence of peace is measured through the following dependent variables; unity and institutional building, which includes encouraging conflicting parties to unite, facilitating negotiations, and rendering resources for creating and strengthening existing institutions. This was measured by examining the transnational oil corporation’s involvement in the call for unity and their investment in institutional building through skilling and resources. Health and Education include constructing schools and health facilities, supporting existing schools and hospitals with resources, offering scholarships to locals to go and study abroad, and funding programs that provide safe, clean water. These were measured by examining transnational oil corporations’ contributions to the skilling, development, funding, and construction of schools and health facilities to ease access to education and medical services. Infrastructural development refers to roads, pipelines, and buildings to cater to human safety. This variable was measured by examining the contribution of transnational oil corporations toward building such infrastructure through their funding. Environmental programs include the steps and activities undertaken by transnational oil corporations to ensure ecological safety, reduction in pollution, and the protection of available water sources and the soil to mitigate the food and water crisis in South Sudan. These variables were used to measure transnational oil corporations' contributions towards peacebuilding by identifying their contribution towards the above variables. The flourishment of the above variables leads to peace because they are among the reasons there is conflict in South Sudan.
These, in relation to our definition, are in agreement with the phrase that the absence of structural violence in South Sudan is “a condition in which individuals, families, groups, communities, and or nations experience low levels of violence and engage in mutually harmonious relationships” (Anderson, 2004).
Findings and discussion
Figure 1: A table showing the contributions of transnational oil corporations towards peace. With dependent variables in the second column and transnational oil corporations in the top rows.
Unity and Institutional building
China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has funded many projects since South Sudan’s independence. In addition to funding projects, they encouraged President Kiir and Macher to unite, thus leading to peace in the country. They also helped the leaders to unite the divided army that had been left after the civil war that had separated the North from the South, nurtured farming, manufacturing, and the building of institutions (Dziadosz, 2012). In 2014, the government of China, through their African representatives, actively supported and pushed for peace talks between President Kiir and Machar in Addis Ababa because of how much they had invested in the oil sector through China National Petroleum Corporation (Wu, 2014). These actions aimed at restoring mutually harmonious relationships between the Dinka and Nuer communities, and they became successful, thus leading to the restoration of peace in South Sudan. This, in reference to our definition of peace, supports the hypothesis that Transnational Corporations have played a significant role in establishing peace as opposed to the common notion that they are the leading cause of conflicts.
Infrastructural development
Most of South Sudan’s infrastructural development has been attributed to the contribution of Transnational oil companies. Infrastructural developments such as airfields, roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, and pipelines have been funded by Transnational oil corporations that operated and continue to work in South Sudan (Brauman, 2006), and the revenue that is generated through exploration, refining, and exportation of crude oil. In meeting the housing needs of those displaced internally by the conflict, China National Petroleum Corporation collaborated with the United Nations in 2013, at the peak of the conflict in South Sudan, to ensure that the locals had placed to live. They constructed shelters for 30,000 stranded civilians because the refugee camps were full. They provided a sum of USD 1.6 million that funded building structures that would hold 15,000 to 20,000 people on a 600,000 square meters property, easing pressure on the United Nations camps and improving living conditions (CNPC, 2023).
Inadequate infrastructure in South Sudan contributed to the conflict because people who lived in areas where infrastructural development was flawed thought that they had been discriminated against, and they decided to fight for the little that was present, leading to conflict. The development of infrastructure by transnational oil corporations in various parts of the country met this need, and it deescalated the tensions and struggle for scarce infrastructure. The de-escalation of tensions resulting from a lack of infrastructure in South Sudan supports the hypothesis that transnational corporations significantly contribute to establishing peace in intrastate conflict.
Education and Health
Transnational oil corporations have also significantly contributed to providing and improving education services in South Sudan. They have built, financed, and renovated schools, especially in oil mining areas, for example, Paloch Primary School in Upper Nile State. They have also continued to provide scholarship opportunities for South Sudanese students to study oil and gas, donated textbooks, and built an E-classroom at the University of Juba (Xinhua, 2023). For example, Petronas, through its International Educational Sponsorship Program, has paved a path for the skills-building of South Sudanese professionals in the oil and gas profession and industry (Ismail, 2021).
Transnational oil corporations have also collaborated with other non-government organizations to boost the health of the local people in South Sudan through the Water for Life project, which has made access to safe, clean water easy. Petronas is the primary funder of this project, and it has existed since 2018. They work with a national Nile Hope, a national non-government organization, and together, they have made clean water accessible to approximately 87,000 people through the 15 water wells built in 12 locations. The solar-powered wells produce up to 27,000 liters of safe drinking water daily. This has reduced waterborne diseases such as Cholera and diarrhea (Khalid, 2021). China National Petroleum Corporation has also invested in the health sector through its social responsibility program. They built the Friendship Hospital in Paloch (Xinhua, 2023). Educational and health needs have been central to the humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. Conflicting parties in South Sudan demanded the decentralization of oil revenue to help communities that were in oil-rich regions to access these services. When the government insisted on centralization, conflict broke out. By contributing to these needs through the above ways, the fighting stopped; thus, transnational oil corporations demonstrated that transnational corporations significantly contribute to establishing peace.
Environmental programs
Transnational oil corporations, through collaborations, have also embarked on environmental sustainability and restoration programs by rebuilding facilities and rectifying significant impacts on the surrounding environment, such as pollution due to hard metals and chemical spills that contaminated water sources and the soil. For example, Petronas, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation have collaborated with Sudd Petroleum Operating Company to ensure that water sources and the soil are free from contaminants that may cause health problems to the people in host communities. They have reinstated ecologically friendly Bioremediation systems in various communities in South Sudan. It ensures that water discharged into the environment is treated and toxicologically assessed to protect the soil and plants. They have also controlled erosion through minimal excavation for pipelines by employing the Magnetic Tomography Method to supervise pipeline anomalies to preserve farmlands and local ecosystems along pipeline routes (Ismail, 2021). This has helped to boost agriculture by restoring soil fertility, growth of pasture for grazing animals, and food production. It is an addition to the available solutions for the country's prevailing food and water crisis. Clean water, food, and fertile soils for agricultural production create peace among communities competing for the above scarce resources. The involvement of transnational oil corporations in environmental activities to restore and protect these resources supports the hypothesis that transnational corporations contribute to establishing peace in intrastate conflicts.
Conclusion
Following our definition of peace as being “the absence of physical and structural violence,” it means that where there is a lack of social services such as access to health and education, presence of abject poverty due to unemployment, institutional failure, and corruption, and food crisis due to harsh climatic conditions resulting from environmental degradation, there is no peace. South Sudan has lacked peace for long, and this escalated with the civil war in 2013 that drove the country’s economy south. South Sudan was declared a humanitarian crisis, attracting the intervention of many international, regional, and national players. The players included international, national, and community-based non-government organizations. On a global scale, transnational corporations played significant roles that led to the re-establishment of peace.
Transnational oil corporations such as China Petroleum Corporation, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, and Malaysia’s Petronas joined the peace-building process by contributing to eliminating structural and physical violence. They leveraged their presence in oil exploration communities by working with local leaders and community-based organizations to support service delivery for the people of South Sudan. As some may argue that they were part of the problem, their involvement placed them as part of the solution with the evolution of peace-building strategies.
Of course, there is still more to be done, but the little that has been done needs to be celebrated because this has demonstrated that transitional corporations can significantly contribute to establishing peace in intrastate conflicts. Today, South Sudan’s children have access to education, and the oil communities have access to clean drinking water, employment, and skills acquisition through the multiple scholarship opportunities made available to them by transnational oil corporations. South Sudan may not be where there wants to be in terms of peace and development, but at least they have started walking in that direction. With continued support and the involvement of other transnational corporations, they can even go much further. Transnational oil corporations have demonstrated that can be done hence supporting my hypothesis that transnational corporations can significantly contribute to the establishment of peace in intra-state conflicts.
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