Revising the UN Peacekeeping Mandate in South Sudan: Maintaining Focus on the Protection of Civilians

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Civil war has raged in South Sudan for two years. Horrific atrocities continue to be committed against the civilian population by both primary parties to the conflict as the United Nations mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has struggled to protect civilians within and beyond its protection of civilians (POC) sites.

This report by the Stimson Center and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute examines the challenges UNMISS has faced in its efforts to protect civilians from physical violence despite the priority and focus of the revised mandate that was adopted following the outbreak of civil war in December 2013.

This report offers recommendations for stakeholders to consider as part of the upcoming mandate review that will take place in December 2015, as well as lessons for future reviews.

Chinese investment in the Port of Darwin: A strategic risk for Australia?

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Few strategic issues have galvanised public attention in Australia as the decision by the Northern Territory Government to lease key facilities in the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company, Landbridge. This Strategic Insights brings together items published on our blog The Strategist as well as articles by ASPI staff published in other media outlets such as The Australian and The Australian Financial Review. The authors are Paul Barnes, Sam Bateman, Allan Behm, Phoebe Benich, Anthony Bergin, Patrick Cronin, Neil James, Peter Jennings, Geoff Wade, and Feng Zhang. Our aim is to bring this material into an accessible format, in part, to assist the deliberations of the Senate Economic References Committee which, over January and February 2016, is conducting an inquiry into the foreign investment review framework including with reference to the Port of Darwin lease.

The Port of Darwin lease highlights an urgent need to review how Australia takes account of its national security interests in making decisions about foreign investment.