This chapter develops the concept of strategic hybridisation. This concept captures how IGAD’s peace-making in South Sudan involved the deliberate blending of multiple and sometimes contradictory peace norms, political logics, and governance practices. Far from being accidental or incoherent, these hybrid strategies reflect a pragmatic negotiation of context, legitimacy, and power. The chapter begins by situating strategic hybridisation within hybrid peace theory, which recognises that peace processes are shaped by diverse actors and competing ideas of peace. IGAD’s approach in South Sudan—simultaneously drawing from Pan-African ideals, realist diplomacy, liberal peacebuilding templates, and illiberal power-sharing arrangements—is presented as a strategic assemblage tailored to the Horn of Africa (HoA)’s volatile political landscape. Using empirical evidence from interviews and discourse analysis, the chapter explores how IGAD mediated between three core conceptualisations of peace: peace as stabilisation (focused on ceasefires and elite bargains), peace as human security (emphasising inclusion and humanitarian access), and peace as social justice (addressing root causes and historical grievances). Rather than privileging one vision, IGAD’s mediation sought to synthesise them into workable compromises. The chapter also introduces the idea of agonistic peace, inspired by Chantal Mouffe’s political theory, to explain how IGAD accommodates ideological contestation without collapsing into dysfunction. Moments of conflictual consensus—such as the Bashir-Museveni reproachment and alliance—are examined as instances where adversarial politics produced actionable outcomes. In contrast to Western critiques that frame IGAD’s approach as incoherent or unprincipled, the chapter argues that strategic hybridisation is a mode of peace-making in complex environments. It also extends hybrid peace theory by positioning regional platforms like IGAD as both analytical categories and operational sites where competing peace imaginaries are negotiated, adapted, and occasionally stabilised.