Migration diplomacy

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In international relations, migration diplomacy is 'the use of diplomatic tools, processes, and procedures to manage cross-border population mobility,' [1] including 'both the strategic use of migration flows as a means to obtain other aims, and the use of diplomatic methods to achieve goals related to migration.' [2] Migration has come to constitute an increasingly-important area of states' engagement with one another, with bilateral multilateral strategies including the promotion or discouragement of bilateral migratory flows; agreements on preferential treatment to certain foreign nationals; the initiation of guest-worker programmes or other short-term labor migration schemes; the deportation of foreign nationals; and so on.

Contents

Background

For political scientist James F. Hollifield, the latter half of the twentieth century gave rise to the migration state, which followed the garrison state of the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, and the trading state of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: whereas, in the past, a central component of states' functions related to their ability to engage in war or to manage trade, the contemporary state is defined by the management of cross-border population mobility. [3] As a result, migration affects the diplomatic interactions of states and has become an object of interstate diplomacy. According to Adamson and Tsourapas, states' migration diplomacy is affected by their interests and bargaining position vis-à-vis other states, based partly on whether they are migration-receiving, migration-sending, or transit states. [4]

Beyond international relations, a number of other social scientists have examined the link between migration and foreign policy in history, [5] area studies, [6] as well as security studies, [7] and elsewhere. Thiollet examines the political dynamics of labor migration in the Middle East, and argues that 'migration policy should be analyzed as an indirect form of foreign policy that uses the selection of migrants and quasi-asylum policies as diplomacy.' [8] For İçduygu and Aksel, the ongoing membership negotiations between Turkey and the European Union demonstrate the strategic use of migration diplomacy as a bargaining tool. [9]

Coercive Migration Diplomacy

Kelly Greenhill has argued that cross-border mobility may be employed as "weapons of mass migration" [7] States may engage in coercive migration diplomacy, namely 'the threat or act by a state, or coalition of states, to affect either migration flows to/from a target state or its migrant stock as a punishment, unless the target state acquiesces to an articulated political or economic demand.' [2] Coercive migration diplomacy strategies involve violence or the threat of force. For Adamson and Tsourapas, coercive migration diplomacy relies on states' adoption of a unilateral approach to interstate bargaining, namely a zero-sum perspective of relative gain, where only one side is expected to benefit. [1] Greenhill has written on the conditions under which the intentional creation, manipulation, and exploitation of real or threatened mass population movements may constitute an element of coercion in international relations. [10]

Coercion is also used to force third countries to impose anti-migrant policies, for example the sanctions that the Trump administration threatened to inflict on Mexico. These sanctions prevented Mexico from developing an independent migration policy. [11]

Cooperative Migration Diplomacy

The emphasis on coercive behaviour does not encapsulate the full range of state practices: in the case of Niger, the government 'benefits from a degree of international legitimacy and support' and is particularly aid dependent. [12] Besides coercion, states may engage in cooperative migration diplomacy, namely 'the promise or act by a state, or coalition of states, to affect either migration flows to/from a target state or its migrant stock as a reward, provided that the target state acquiesces to an articulated political or economic demand.' [2] Cooperative migration diplomacy is predicated upon interstate bargaining explicitly aiming for mutually beneficial arrangements in the absence of aggression. [2]

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats, including threats to use force against that party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desired response. These actions may include extortion, blackmail, or even torture and sexual assault. For example, a bully may demand lunch money from a student where refusal results in the student getting beaten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emigration</span> Act of leaving ones country or region to settle in another

Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere. Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another. A migrant emigrates from their old country, and immigrates to their new country. Thus, both emigration and immigration describe migration, but from different countries' perspectives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human migration</span> Movement of people for their benefit

Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forced displacement</span> Coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region

Forced displacement is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence or human rights violations".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deterrence theory</span> Military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons

Deterrence theory refers to the scholarship and practice of how threats or limited force by one party can convince another party to refrain from initiating some other course of action. The topic gained increased prominence as a military strategy during the Cold War with regard to the use of nuclear weapons and is related to but distinct from the concept of mutual assured destruction, according to which a full-scale nuclear attack on a power with second-strike capability would devastate both parties. The central problem of deterrence revolves around how to credibly threaten military action or nuclear punishment on the adversary despite its costs to the deterrer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration</span> Movement of people into another country or region to which they are not native

Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and other short-term stays in a destination country do not fall under the definition of immigration or migration; seasonal labour immigration is sometimes included, however.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Immigration to Greece</span> Overview of immigration to Greece

Immigration to Greece percentage of foreign populations in Greece is 7.1% in proportion to the total population of the country. Moreover, between 9 and 11% of the registered Greek labor force of 4.4 million are foreigners. Migrants additionally make up 25% of wage and salary earners.

International migration occurs when people cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum length of the time. Migration occurs for many reasons. Many people leave their home countries in order to look for economic opportunities in another country. Others migrate to be with family members who have migrated or because of political conditions in their countries. Education is another reason for international migration, as students pursue their studies abroad, although this migration is often temporary, with a return to the home country after the studies are completed.

Egyptian diaspora consists of citizens of Egypt abroad sharing a common culture and Egyptian Arabic language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diplomacy</span> Practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states

Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states intended to influence events in the international system.

Institute for the Study of International Migration is a private research institute located in Washington, DC. Founded in 1998 as part of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, it is associated with the Georgetown University Law Center. The Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM) is an innovative multidisciplinary center that studies the social, economic, environmental, and political dimensions of international migration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrective Revolution (Egypt)</span> Reform introduced by Anwar Sadat in Egypt

The Corrective Revolution was a reform program launched on 15 May 1971 by President Anwar Sadat. It involved purging Nasserist members of the government and security forces, often considered pro-Soviet and left-wing, and drumming up popular support by presenting the takeover as a continuation of the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, while at the same time radically changing track on issues of foreign policy, economy, and ideology. This includes a large shift in Egyptian diplomacy, building ties to the United States and Israel, while breaking from the USSR and, after signing the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, Egypt's subsequent suspension from the Arab League.

Compellence is a form of coercion that attempts to get an actor to change its behavior through threats to use force or the actual use of limited force. Compellence can be more clearly described as "a political-diplomatic strategy that aims to influence an adversary's will or incentive structure. It is a strategy that combines threats of force, and, if necessary, the limited and selective use of force in discrete and controlled increments, in a bargaining strategy that includes positive inducements. The aim is to induce an adversary to comply with one's demands, or to negotiate the most favorable compromise possible, while simultaneously managing the crisis to prevent unwanted military escalation."

Kelly M. Greenhill is an American political scientist. She is an associate professor at Tufts University and a research fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. She specializes in weapons of mass migration, forced displacement, and foreign policy.

"Refugees as weapons", or "Weapon of Mass Migration" is a term used to describe a hostile government organizing, or threatening to organize, a sudden influx of refugees into another country or political entity with the intent of causing political disturbances in that entity. The responsible country usually seeks to extract concessions from the targeted country and achieve some political, military, and/or economic objective.

Almost half of international migrants are women, generally travelling as either migrant workers or refugees. Women migrant workers migrate from developing countries to high-income countries to engage in paid employment, typically in gendered professions such as domestic work. Because their work disproportionately takes place in private homes, they are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. Wages earned are largely sent home to the originating country to support the cost of living of the family left behind.

In international relations, credibility is the perceived likelihood that a leader or a state follows through on threats and promises that have been made. Credibility is a key component of coercion, as well as the functioning of military alliances. Credibility is related to concepts such as reputation and resolve. Reputation for resolve may be a key component of credibility, but credibility is also highly context-dependent.

In international relations, coercion refers to the imposition of costs by a state on other states and non-state actors to prevent them from taking an action (deterrence) or to compel them to take an action (compellence). Coercion frequently takes the form of threats or the use of limited military force. It is commonly seen as analytically distinct from persuasion, brute force, or full-on war.

Externalization is efforts by wealthy, developed countries to prevent asylum seekers and other migrants from reaching their borders, often by enlisting third countries or private entities. Externalization is used by Australia, Canada, the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom. Although less visible than physical barriers at international borders, externalization controls or restrict mobility in ways that are out of sight and far from the country's border. Examples include visa restrictions, sanctions for carriers who transport asylum seekers, and agreements with source and transit countries. Consequences often include increased irregular migration, human smuggling, and border deaths.

Gerasimos Tsourapas is a Professor of international relations at the University of Glasgow. He currently serves as the Chair of the Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Migration Section of the International Studies Association. His main areas of research and teaching are the politics of migrants, refugees, and diasporas, with particular expertise on cross-border mobility across the Global South.

References

  1. 1 2 Adamson, Fiona B; Tsourapas, Gerasimos (2019-05-01). "Migration Diplomacy in World Politics". International Studies Perspectives. 20 (2): 113–128. doi: 10.1093/isp/eky015 . ISSN   1528-3577.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Tsourapas, Gerasimos (2019-01-08). "Migration Diplomacy in the Global South: Cooperation, Coercion and Issue Linkage in Gaddafi's Libya". doi:10.31235/osf.io/aky4j.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ↑ Hollifield, James F. (2006-02-23). "The Emerging Migration State1". International Migration Review. 38 (3): 885–912. doi:10.1111/j.1747-7379.2004.tb00223.x. ISSN   0197-9183. S2CID   153434023.
  4. ↑ Adamson, Fiona B; Tsourapas, Gerasimos (2019-05-01). "Migration Diplomacy in World Politics". International Studies Perspectives. 20 (2): 113–128. doi: 10.1093/isp/eky015 . ISSN   1528-3577.
  5. ↑ Oyen, Meredith, 1978- author. (2016-02-19). The diplomacy of migration : transnational lives and the making of U.S.-Chinese relations in the Cold War. ISBN   9781501701474. OCLC   967264274.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Thiollet, Helene (2011). "Migration as Diplomacy: Labor Migrants, Refugees, and Arab Regional Politics in the Oil-Rich Countries" (PDF). International Labor and Working-Class History. 79 (1): 103–121. doi:10.1017/s0147547910000293. ISSN   0147-5479. S2CID   42891745.
  7. 1 2 Greenhill, Kelly M. (2010-03-18). Weapons of Mass Migration. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/9780801458668. ISBN   9780801458668.
  8. ↑ Thiollet, Helene (2011). "Migration as Diplomacy: Labor Migrants, Refugees, and Arab Regional Politics in the Oil-Rich Countries" (PDF). International Labor and Working-Class History. 79 (1): 103–121. doi:10.1017/s0147547910000293. ISSN   0147-5479. S2CID   42891745.
  9. ↑ İçduygu, Ahmet; Aksel, Damla B. (2014-10-16). "Two-to-Tango in Migration Diplomacy: Negotiating Readmission Agreement between the eu and Turkey". European Journal of Migration and Law. 16 (3): 337–363. doi:10.1163/15718166-12342060. ISSN   1388-364X.
  10. ↑ Greenhill, Kelly M., 1970- editor Krause, Peter, 1979- editor (2018). Coercion : the power to hurt in international politics. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780190846336. OCLC   1049154958.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ Luicy Pedroza. "From Opposing the Wall to Becoming it". Verfassungsblog (in German). Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  12. ↑ Frowd, Philippe M. (2020-02-01). "Producing the 'transit' migration state: international security intervention in Niger". Third World Quarterly. 41 (2): 340–358. doi:10.1080/01436597.2019.1660633. ISSN   0143-6597. S2CID   204433795.
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