Violent conflicts in Africa are often presented as ethnic strife in a framework of weak states. This article takes a diachronical actor-oriented perspective to analyse the conflict in Sudan. It shows how apparently local conflicts have been interlinked with the aims and interests of governments and opposing groups, army factions and militant organizations in the larger sub-region that Sudan is part of. The focus is on the interrelationship between current conflicts in Sudan and Chad and their connection with the 2005 peace agreement between the Government of Sudan (GOS) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). In conclusion, a paradigm shift in conflict and peace research is proposed. Instead of using the state as the unit of analysis, it is suggested that the sub-regional arenas where conflicts break out be examined.
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