Reformed Rebels? Democratization, Global Norms, and the Sudan People's Liberation Army

After years of using terror as a strategic tool against its ostensible supporters in southern Sudan, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) claims to be moving in a democratic direction. If true, this change would stand as a case of an insurgency responding to global political and normative pressures to democratize, and would signal acceptance of greater reciprocity in social relations in the insurgency—a pattern that fits with broader propositions of state-building scholars. Yet, as this article argues, the SPLA will not achieve its state-building objective because of the effects of international norms on the movement's intentions and pursuits of its interests.