Africa & Middle East

South Sudan

Political journey

The world’s youngest recognized country, South Sudan became independent from Sudan in 2011 after decades of war. A civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar began in 2013 and killed hundreds of thousands. A 2018 peace deal has repeatedly faltered, elections keep being postponed, and Machar was arrested in 2025.

South Sudan today

Its current leader’s position on the ten Caucus dimensions.

💰EconomySlightly state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentSlightly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyCentered on technology
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsSlightly anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional
🙏ReligionStrongly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismSlightly interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

Who leads South Sudan today

Portrait of Salva Kiir

Salva Kiir

President of South Sudan, 2011 to present

Led the rebel army to independence and has been president since, through a civil war, repeated election delays and the 2025 arrest of his vice president Riek Machar.

Salva Kiir sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: slightly state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly strength-first on war and peace and strongly religious on religion. The profile is close to the middle on technology.

Full profile of Salva Kiir →

Political views closest to South Sudan’s leadership

IslamismA broad family of movements that seek to organize politics and law around Islam, from…97%National conservatismPrioritizes national sovereignty, cultural identity, tradition and firm borders.96%Social conservatismDefends the traditional family, religion and moral norms in law and society.95%CorporatismOrganizes society into industry and professional bodies that bargain with the state, an…93%

Countries with similar leadership

Ranked by how close their current leaders are on the ten dimensions.

NicaraguaAmericas99%Guinea-BissauAfrica & Middle East99%ChadAfrica & Middle East99%GuineaAfrica & Middle East99%

Country histories are short summaries. Positions are simplified estimates of the leaders included in Caucus as of October 2026, and percentages show how close two profiles are across all ten dimensions.