As the number of refugees globally reaches new records, European and North American states are developing diverse yet similar strategies that link their management of forced displacement to closer cooperation with host states of first asylum in their periphery. How has the Syrian refugee crisis affected European foreign policy and what are the implications for refugee host states in the Middle East?
Gerasimos Tsourapas identifies a global shift towards the commodification of forced migration, as host states of first asylum are offered economic and political rewards in exchange for serving as buffer zones against asylum-seekers reaching Europe and North America. By focusing on European foreign policy towards the three major host states of Syrian refugees (Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey) in the 2015-2016, he examines the rise of “refugee rentier states,” namely states seeking to leverage their position as host states of displaced communities for material gain.
Through the lens of power politics, the EU-Turkey Deal as well as the Jordan and Lebanon Compacts are indicative of an increasing trend in terms of leveraging refugee populations for political and economic advantage across the Global South. The speaker argues for the emergence of a novel research agenda around migration diplomacy and discusses the implications of refugee rent-seeking behavior for the international system.
The New Research on Europe Seminar serves as a weekly forum in which CES Visiting Scholars present their work. Scholars present their work in a form accessible to scholars working in fields other than their own. Papers may be circulated in advance, although this is not required.
The seminar encourages discussions across disciplinary as well as national boundaries. After each presentation, there is ample time for critique and discussion, followed by the CES Friday Lunch. This seminar is open to the public.
