[Bart L. Smit Duijzentkunst recently received his PhD in international
law from the University of Cambridge. He will be teaching international
law at the Fletcher School of
Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, in the 2015 fall semester.] When, in December 2013, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) opened its gates to thousands of civilians fleeing violence in the wake of an alleged coup, it also opened a new chapter on the UN’s commitment to the protection of civilians. Two decades earlier UN troops had received vague orders to...
