{"id":14263,"date":"2014-06-10T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2014-06-10T03:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=14263"},"modified":"2014-06-11T21:38:32","modified_gmt":"2014-06-11T11:38:32","slug":"abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"United<\/a>Tony Abbott arrived in New York overnight to commence the US leg of his latest overseas trip. While it\u2019s anticipated this portion of the trip will have a heavy business, trade and investment focus, it\u2019s also expected that time will be made for Prime Minister Abbott to make his first courtesy call on the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s notable that Abbott\u2019s meeting with Ban Ki-moon will take place against that trade and investment backdrop. Julie Bishop\u2019s speech<\/a> to the UN General Assembly in September 2013 occurred in a similar setting. Having been Foreign Minister for only nine days at that point, Bishop\u2019s statement focused almost exclusively on the ability of economic growth and trade to foster sustainable development, or the importance of \u2018aid for trade\u2019 (as previously noted here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s current focus on economic diplomacy and forthcoming reductions in Australia\u2019s aid program could be one of several subjects to emerge in discussion (along with others that have drawn criticism<\/a>, including Australia\u2019s asylum seeker policies). But, such sensitive subjects and differences are unlikely to be the principal focus of Abbott\u2019s meeting later today. And if they are, Abbott would be better off refocusing the discussion to areas where Australian engagement with the UN has recently been more consistent, namely, support of the organisation\u2019s efforts to maintain peace and security efforts.<\/p>\n

To assist in such efforts, one of the topics under discussion might be how Australia can best leverage its final six months as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Although the Coalition didn\u2019t support Australia\u2019s bid for the seat for 2013-14, it quickly adjusted to Australia\u2019s new-found responsibilities when it came into government during our first Presidency of the Council in September 2013. During that month, Julie Bishop presided over a Council debate that adopted the UN\u2019s first-ever resolution on small arms and light weapons, resolution 2117<\/a> (PDF). The adoption of the resolution built on Australia\u2019s existing engagement as one of the co-authors of the Arms Trade Treaty (Australia ratified the treaty<\/a> last week). Both initiatives will need the operational support of countries to ensure they\u2019re implemented and complied with.<\/p>\n

The situation in Syria is one critical and high profile area of mutual concern where Australia has been working to support the UN\u2019s humanitarian efforts. This has included engagement with other non-permanent Council members Jordan and Luxembourg to improve humanitarian access to parts of the country. The adoption of Resolution 2139<\/a> (PDF) in February (co-authored<\/a> by Australia, Jordan and Luxembourg) was an important step forward, but it\u2019s had limited effect alleviating the suffering of the civilian population in the absence of stricter enforcement mechanisms.<\/p>\n

Given Australia\u2019s investment in those efforts to date on the Security Council, as well as our ongoing support to humanitarian assistance in Syria, it\u2019s in our interests to continue supporting mechanisms that may assist the UN to deliver humanitarian assistance on the ground in Syria.<\/p>\n

Similarly, Australia\u2019s significant engagement politically and militarily in Afghanistan over the last decade means we have a direct interest in the UN\u2019s future engagement in the country, something we\u2019ve supported as the \u2018pen-holder\u2019 (lead) for Afghanistan on the Council during our current term.<\/p>\n

The Security Council\u2019s recent approval of sanctions against Boko Haram (as an al-Qaeda affiliate) demonstrate that sanctions remain an important mechanism to respond to challenges to international security. Australia currently chairs three of the UN Security Council\u2019s sanctions committees, including the \u20181267 committee\u2019 on Al Qaeda. As sanctions remain increasingly relevant to the UN\u2019s efforts to respond to challenges to peace and security, Australia\u2019s efforts to approach more comprehensively the UN\u2019s engagement<\/a> on sanctions as part of the remainder of our Council term could benefit from further exploration<\/p>\n

While Australia\u2019s engagement on the UN Security Council provides political clout on peace and security issues, the meeting between Abbott and Ban Ki-moon will also provide an opportunity for the UN to send messages about areas where it requires operational support. Though the ADF and AFP have remained constant contributors of personnel to UN peacekeeping efforts for more than 50 years, there\u2019s an expectation that Australia\u2014like other Western countries\u2014may have a greater capacity to contribute further to these efforts after drawdowns in Afghanistan. Given the value attained from the air lift support<\/a> that the ADF provided in South Sudan in December last year, it\u2019s a topic that will no doubt be of interest to the UN.<\/p>\n

Abbott\u2019s first official UN engagement since coming to office will provide an opportunity to elaborate further on Australia\u2019s priorities for multilateral engagement beyond the \u2018more Jakarta, less Geneva\u2019 slogan of last year\u2019s election campaign. Such elaboration would give important guidance as to how we best spend the remaining time of our existing term on the Security Council, which will include a further turn at the Presidency in November. It\u2019s an important and worthwhile meeting as part of Abbott\u2019s first visit to New York as Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

Lisa Sharland is an analyst at ASPI. Image courtesy of the United Nations<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tony Abbott arrived in New York overnight to commence the US leg of his latest overseas trip. While it\u2019s anticipated this portion of the trip will have a heavy business, trade and investment focus, it\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":229,"featured_media":14302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[832,17,294,92,149],"class_list":["post-14263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-aid","tag-australia","tag-diplomacy","tag-united-nations","tag-united-nations-security-council"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAbbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tony Abbott arrived in New York overnight to commence the US leg of his latest overseas trip. While it\u2019s anticipated this portion of the trip will have a heavy business, trade and investment focus, it\u2019s ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-06-10T03:00:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-06-11T11:38:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa Sharland\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa Sharland\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":423,\"caption\":\"United Nations Security Council\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/\",\"name\":\"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-06-10T03:00:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-06-11T11:38:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/4a389571a6326e0ac3a6a269587a9187\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/4a389571a6326e0ac3a6a269587a9187\",\"name\":\"Lisa Sharland\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/252280a7b161ae7dac89429c352e306d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/252280a7b161ae7dac89429c352e306d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa Sharland\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/lisa-sharland\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist","og_description":"Tony Abbott arrived in New York overnight to commence the US leg of his latest overseas trip. While it\u2019s anticipated this portion of the trip will have a heavy business, trade and investment focus, it\u2019s ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2014-06-10T03:00:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-06-11T11:38:32+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lisa Sharland","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa Sharland","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/3952224488_bda2083209_z.jpg","width":640,"height":423,"caption":"United Nations Security Council"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/","name":"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2014-06-10T03:00:10+00:00","dateModified":"2014-06-11T11:38:32+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/4a389571a6326e0ac3a6a269587a9187"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/abbotts-visit-to-new-york-more-than-just-business-and-investment\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Abbott\u2019s visit to New York: more than just business and investment"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/4a389571a6326e0ac3a6a269587a9187","name":"Lisa Sharland","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/252280a7b161ae7dac89429c352e306d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/252280a7b161ae7dac89429c352e306d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lisa Sharland"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/lisa-sharland\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/229"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14263"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14324,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14263\/revisions\/14324"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}