Women, Peace and Security: Rethinking Policy, Advocacy and Implementation. The United Nations Security Council addresses gender-related peace and security issues through the framework of the ‘women, peace and security’ (WPS) agenda. This project aims to show how the WPS agenda is translated from international through national to local contexts, by applying discourse-theoretical analysis to the formation of the WPS policy architecture, mapping feminist advocacy around the WPS agenda, and analysin ....Women, Peace and Security: Rethinking Policy, Advocacy and Implementation. The United Nations Security Council addresses gender-related peace and security issues through the framework of the ‘women, peace and security’ (WPS) agenda. This project aims to show how the WPS agenda is translated from international through national to local contexts, by applying discourse-theoretical analysis to the formation of the WPS policy architecture, mapping feminist advocacy around the WPS agenda, and analysing the implementation of the WPS agenda at the national level. The project aims to examine formation, advocacy and implementation from a discourse-theoretical perspective and thus offer new insights into the challenges and opportunities afforded by the WPS agenda for the lives of women in conflict-affected states. This may provide new insights to all participant organisations and therefore have an impact on policy-making and advocacy in this sphere.Read moreRead less
The Future of Oceans Governance in Polar Areas. Australia has a compelling national interest in maintaining its sovereignty and security in the Antarctic. Australian government goals include maintaining the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS); enhancing Australia's influence within the system; protecting the Antarctic environment; understanding the role of Antarctica in the global climate system; and undertaking scientific work of practical, economic and national significance. This project directly ad ....The Future of Oceans Governance in Polar Areas. Australia has a compelling national interest in maintaining its sovereignty and security in the Antarctic. Australian government goals include maintaining the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS); enhancing Australia's influence within the system; protecting the Antarctic environment; understanding the role of Antarctica in the global climate system; and undertaking scientific work of practical, economic and national significance. This project directly addresses national research priorities through analysis of oceans governance issues that centre on Australian interests. This project will also contribute to national benefit by focusing on issues central to the International Polar Year.Read moreRead less
Gender, peacebuilding and the politics of space: a critical examination of United Nations peacebuilding practices. More than half of all peace agreements fail within five years. In response to this dismal statistic, the United Nations (UN) recently began to prioritise gender matters in peacebuilding operations, recognising that gender equality is key to building sustainable peace. This project examines how gender justice is addressed in United Nations peacebuilding policy and practice.
Evaluating military assistance in health emergencies. This project aims to examine the use of military forces in containing the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, and its repercussions for future humanitarian assistance operations. The involvement of military personnel in health emergencies has traditionally been controversial, but civil-military cooperation throughout the Ebola outbreak has been widely hailed as a success, potentially establishing a precedent with ramifications for humanitarian ....Evaluating military assistance in health emergencies. This project aims to examine the use of military forces in containing the 2014 West African Ebola outbreak, and its repercussions for future humanitarian assistance operations. The involvement of military personnel in health emergencies has traditionally been controversial, but civil-military cooperation throughout the Ebola outbreak has been widely hailed as a success, potentially establishing a precedent with ramifications for humanitarian practices and Australian military capabilities. This project seeks to inform and enhance future disaster response by better understanding the roles, functions, responsibilities and limits of military assistance in health emergencies to inform future practice.Read moreRead less
Countering terrorism and violent extremism through women peace and security. This project aims to advance knowledge about efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism (CT/CVE) and the United Nations’s (UN) Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, investigating how these two sets of practices are being brought into alignment. The threat to peace and security posed by terrorism and violent extremism is of increasing magnitude in global politics. Applying innovative methods, this project explo ....Countering terrorism and violent extremism through women peace and security. This project aims to advance knowledge about efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremism (CT/CVE) and the United Nations’s (UN) Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda, investigating how these two sets of practices are being brought into alignment. The threat to peace and security posed by terrorism and violent extremism is of increasing magnitude in global politics. Applying innovative methods, this project explores the integration of CT/CVE and WPS at the UN and in Australia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, in collaboration with UN entities and civil society organisations. The insights generated through this project will enable scholars and practitioners to both rethink violence prevention in WPS policy architecture and rethink CT/CVE through WPS principlesRead moreRead less
Choosing Litigation to Resolve International Law Disputes in the Protection of Australia's Offshore Assets, Its Citizens and Foreign Trade. The potential benefits of this project are far-reaching, as it not only advances scholarly knowledge of the role of litigation in international dispute settlement, but is also intended to promote better governmental, legal, political, and community understanding of international dispute settlement options and to ensure that international law disputes are res ....Choosing Litigation to Resolve International Law Disputes in the Protection of Australia's Offshore Assets, Its Citizens and Foreign Trade. The potential benefits of this project are far-reaching, as it not only advances scholarly knowledge of the role of litigation in international dispute settlement, but is also intended to promote better governmental, legal, political, and community understanding of international dispute settlement options and to ensure that international law disputes are resolved for Australia's benefit. Through the development of a comprehensive and integrated framework for deciding on resort to litigation, this project will enhance Australia's relationships with neighbouring states and allies through successful use of dispute settlement techniques in relation to issues of economic, social and security importance to Australia.Read moreRead less
Eliminating Sexual Violence Within the Military . Military sexual violence, or sexual violence that occurs within national militaries, is a complex and gendered international problem This project addresses how we can better understand and reduce military sexual violence through a comparative analysis of the rates, responses, and reporting of the issue in Australia, Canada, the US, and New Zealand.
The project will produce the first-ever comparative data set on international rates over the past ....Eliminating Sexual Violence Within the Military . Military sexual violence, or sexual violence that occurs within national militaries, is a complex and gendered international problem This project addresses how we can better understand and reduce military sexual violence through a comparative analysis of the rates, responses, and reporting of the issue in Australia, Canada, the US, and New Zealand.
The project will produce the first-ever comparative data set on international rates over the past decade, establish and communicate international best practices and policies in reducing military sexual violence, and identify potential gender bias within media coverage and policies that may limit public knowledge and responses.
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Maritime legal practice and policy in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf: synergies and challenges for Australian trade and security. The project will analyse national practice relating to maritime claims and jurisdiction in the Indian Ocean and Arabian Gulf. It will identify areas of instability in the region that may pose a threat to freedom of international navigation and trade.
Regional Politics in the Southwest Pacific: From Colonialism and Cold War to the Asia-Pacific Century. In the general context of increasing international attention to Asia-Pacific issues, the project aims to investigate regional politics in the Southwest Pacific from the early post-war period to the present with a focus on identity politics among Pacific Island states and Australia's role in the region. Its significance lies in the identification of important tensions in regional politics arisin ....Regional Politics in the Southwest Pacific: From Colonialism and Cold War to the Asia-Pacific Century. In the general context of increasing international attention to Asia-Pacific issues, the project aims to investigate regional politics in the Southwest Pacific from the early post-war period to the present with a focus on identity politics among Pacific Island states and Australia's role in the region. Its significance lies in the identification of important tensions in regional politics arising from the legacies of colonialism and the Cold War, the Melanesia/Polynesia divide and the advent of new actors. Outcomes include a deeper understanding of regional processes, and the motives, interests, values and expectations which underpin them, to inform scholarly approaches, policy formulation and public discourses.Read moreRead less
Perceptions of terrorist groups in conflict-affected states. How do terrorist groups adapt in the face of counterterrorism measures and sustain themselves despite their lack of local popularity? This project answers this question through a systematic analysis of how local observers understand extremist groups in four states facing significant terrorist activities: Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia. This comparative analysis will provide an opportunity to assess local knowledge as a form of resi ....Perceptions of terrorist groups in conflict-affected states. How do terrorist groups adapt in the face of counterterrorism measures and sustain themselves despite their lack of local popularity? This project answers this question through a systematic analysis of how local observers understand extremist groups in four states facing significant terrorist activities: Yemen, Iraq, Pakistan, and Somalia. This comparative analysis will provide an opportunity to assess local knowledge as a form of resistance to terrorism, thereby generating new approaches to conceptualising and countering violent extremism. Other expected outcomes include new collaborative research networks between Australia and conflict-affected states, the creation of new datasets for researchers, and training for research students.Read moreRead less