This study examines links between natural resources and effective statehood, in both northern and southern Sudan, following the planned January 2011 referendum on southern Sudan’s potential secession. The study draws on research and analysis of three key natural resources—petroleum, land, and water—and on commissioned reports, a detailed questionnaire, and consultations with several leading Sudan experts regarding the referendum’s implications for peaceful management of these resources. Using this information, the circumstances most likely to trigger violent conflict can be pinpointed. These findings are used to develop recommendations aimed at improving the management of these three resources and reducing the likelihood that competition over them will lead to violence in 2011.