Raspail, racism, and migration: Implications for radicalization in a polarizing world

2020 ◽  
pp. 136346152093092
Author(s):  
G. E. Jarvis

Jean Raspail’s controversial 1973 novel The camp of the saints predicts mass migration to Europe that will destroy European civilization. Decades later, the book has accurately predicted the hundreds of thousands of refugees arriving in Europe annually, prompting a continent-wide crisis. From Lesbos and Lampedusa to the Canary Islands and Calais, no one seems to know how to stem the flow of humanity. Borders are being resurrected, despite Schengen and European Union (EU) agreements, in an effort to control the movement of populations. European governments disagree on how to proceed and some are suggesting that the EU could be torn apart by differing approaches to the problem. But does this have to be the response to the migration crisis? This paper compares the predictions of The camp of the saints to events in Europe today and critiques the book’s conclusions with regard to what is an ancient phenomenon: movements of migrants from surplus to deficit labor settings. The paper will also evaluate the response to migrants in the United States under its populist president, Donald Trump, and will review related issues in other parts of the world: Turkey, Russia, and Canada. Contrary to Raspail’s predictions, world leaders will need to accept what has already become a de facto reality: large scale admission of migrants and refugees to the EU and North America, as full citizens, will be the only realistic way to preserve prosperity in the years to come.

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 118-129

The economic crises of the 21st century have challenged the unity of the European Union. The initially strong centripetal forces started to be weakened by new, unexpected centrifugal forces. What does the future hold for the European Union, and how can it face the unforeseen challenges? Currently the most important divisive, centrifugal forces within the EU include the management of mass migration, the debates surrounding the EU budget, the lack of a common foreign policy and the issue of sovereignty versus federalism. The essay addresses these topics one by one, because a strong, influential and unified Europe cannot exist without a solution to the migration crisis which is accepted by all Member States, a more coordinated fiscal and foreign policy and an explicit, uniformly accepted interpretation of the sovereignty of nation states. These areas are likely to remain divisive, centrifugal forces hampering the progress of European integration for years to come, but they should be discussed to identify the most important things to do.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 145-160
Author(s):  
Lehte Roots

The article reflexes the nexus between security and migration management. Immigration is often seen as threat to national security but in case of refugees they are the victims of the instability and lack of protection of their human rights. The article aims to analyse how the human security concept is discussed in EU policies and how it has been implemented to tackle the migration crisis. The approach of the USA to migration and security will be used for the comparative analysis. The article discusses the historical and legal developments of migration management and the effects and problematics in the open world. Since the EU and the USA are the world big players, they should stay the leaders in promoting human rights and security. The way to do it is to introduce homogeneous policies in terms of migration management.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pinar Yazgan ◽  
Deniz Eroglu Utku ◽  
Ibrahim Sirkeci

With the growing insurrections in Syria in 2011, an exodus in large numbers have emerged. The turmoil and violence have caused mass migration to destinations both within the region and beyond. The current "refugee crisis" has escalated sharply and its impact is widening from neighbouring countries toward Europe. Today, the Syrian crisis is the major cause for an increase in displacement and the resultant dire humanitarian situation in the region. Since the conflict shows no signs of abating in the near future, there is a constant increase in the number of Syrians fleeing their homes. However, questions on the future impact of the Syrian crisis on the scope and scale of this human mobility are still to be answered. As the impact of the Syrian crisis on host countries increases, so does the demand for the analyses of the needs for development and protection in these countries. In this special issue, we aim to bring together a number of studies examining and discussing human mobility in relation to the Syrian crisis.


Significance A significant rise in Afghan refugees is unlikely over the coming weeks due to geographical barriers, but European governments are bracing themselves for a significant rise over the coming months. Greek Migration Minister Notis Mitarachi says the EU is not prepared for another migration crisis. Impacts With upcoming elections, Germany and France will be wary of taking in large numbers of refugees. Division over immigration could damage EU cooperation in other areas, such as climate change or fiscal policy. The strongest opposition to migration burden-sharing is likely to come from Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.


Significance The EU is still struggling to formulate a coordinated response to the migration crisis, but it has managed to make significant cuts in illegal immigration by tightening control of its external borders and reducing the number of irregular crossings of the Mediterranean. Impacts An EU-Africa summit in November will review measures to prevent people from trying to come to Europe in the first place. The number of people crossing the Mediterranean has fallen, but for each individual attempting the journey the risk of dying has increased. The sense of being abandoned by other EU countries could boost Euroscepticism in the run-up to next year’s election in Italy. Conflicts over migration policy are likely to deepen the east-west divide within the EU.


Author(s):  
M. A. Kukartseva

The article considers the essence and peculiarities of realizing of human security in the EU external policy in general and specifically in Africa. The article reveals the principles of the EU interest in Africa as a focus of their humanitarian policy: phantoms of the collective memory of the political class of Western European countries, huge potential of resources and markets, migration and terrorist threat. It is argued that this policy is considered by the EU as its strategic foreign policy narrative, in the course of which the Union, while ensuring the security of the African continent, primarily realizes its own interests. Specific features of the interpretation of this narrative in official documents of Germany as a key member of the EU are specified. It is revealed that Germany aims to play a major role in shaping European policy towards the African continent, and the specificity of its approach is economic-centric, which distinguishes it from the EU’s general approach to Africa. The key question of the article is how is disinterested Germany’s role, despite its permeation with the spirit of liberal values as a supplier of human security to African countries. It is shown that the discrimination of refugees and migrants in migration flows in the EU emphasized the importance of the Union’s activities in ensuring human security in Africa. In accordance with its goal to become the leading actor of the EU policy on the continent, its role as a leader of the liberal world and the peculiarities of the consequences of the migration crisis for the political and party system of the country and the stability of the social state, Germany proposed the German “Marshall Plan” for Africa as a concretization of its humanitarian policy on the continent. The parameters of this Plan, its advantages and implementation difficulties are considered. It is concluded that the Germany’s approach to Africa, on the whole, indisputably contributes to the latter’s development. At the same time, it is to a large extent focused on solving the tasks of ensuring national security of Germany itself, promoting the interests of German business, creating new German “reserves” in Africa through the African partnership. In this bi-directional process there is no obvious contradiction, but the results of this process can become ambivalent.


2020 ◽  
Vol LXVIII (2) ◽  
pp. 105-124
Author(s):  
Simona Sava

According to Eurostat data, the young NEETs (Not in education, employment or training) rate in Romania is one of the highest in Europe. It ranks 4th in Europe in 2019 (after Italy, Greece, and Slovenia) (Eurostat, 2020), with 11.5% for men, and 27.8% for women (while the EU average is 12.2% for men, and 20.8% for women). In addition, Romania has one of the highest rates of ’other NEETs’, not registered by public employment agencies: only 4.8% were registered in 2018, and received the NEETs benefits (CE, 2018). Recent data show the low performance of Romania in monitoring the school to work transition of youths, in accessing the European funds to support young people entering the labor market, or for offering the Youth Guarantee (Beadle et al., 2020). Even so, Romania, like all other member states, cannot afford to lose the youth capital, while it faces sharp population ageing and outgoing migration. During the last decade, we saw emerging a strong know-how for understanding and addressing the NEETs issue. Reflecting on the research data from different reports and studies, from various findings in large scale H2020 research and innovation projects on NEETs, the paper elaborates on proactive or remedial integrative solutions for improving the situation of young NEETs in Romania, building up on the good practices in atracting NEETs, at national and European level, while using the theoretical framework of the governmentality studies applied to the youth field (Besley, 2010).


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
Rita De Sousa Costa ◽  
Tiago Sérgio Cabral

2016 was marked by the rise of populism and isolationism around the world. The European Union is losing a Member State for the first time, after the British voted to leave in their “Brexit” referendum. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States, causing concern amongst European leaders. In the remaining Member States, populist and Eurosceptic political forces are becoming more relevant, further endangering the integrity of the European Union. In this paper, we analyse the motives behind the European Union’s “existential crisis”, which is arguably, one of the most significant challenges the EU will face in its near future. We conclude that the European Union must reform in order to regain their citizens’ trust and reinforce democracy.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 78-108
Author(s):  
M. M. Panyuzheva

The article discusses the security relations among the United States, the EU and Russia in the context of Donald Trump's populism, the change of Western political elites and the erosion of arms treaty regimes. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current state and identify the probable scenarios of relations in the triangle of the USA – the EU – Russia. The article explores the features of the Euro-Atlantic security system from 1990’s till the mid-2000’s; the concept of Euro-Atlantic security in 2008-2009; the US, the EU and Russia relations under Barak Obama and Donald Trump. As a result of a comprehensive analysis, the author comes to the following conclusions: 1) the concept of Euro-Atlantic security is still relevant. Since the NATO based security arrangements are not stabile, security interaction among the USA, the EU and Russia is growing in importance. 2) European leaders seem to be moving towards building a new security architecture and a more balanced dialogue with Russia. The EU remains the main economic partner of the Russian Federation. 3) Trump's “transactional” approach has prompted Europeans to strengthen its defense identity and seek a compromise with Russia. 4) In a multipolar world, the Euro-Atlantic regional security is no longer closed to transatlantic ties. It is important to rethink the concept towards cooperation with non-regional countries. 5) The complex game of engagement and deterrence is likely to continue in relations between Russia and the West. The more uncertain the transatlantic relations become, the more the EU and the US need Russia.The author declares absence of conflict of interests.


Author(s):  
Spyros Blavoukos

Based on negative publicity related to the financial turmoil and the migration crisis one could perhaps classify Greece as a problematic EU partner. This contribution argues that this static approach does not fully describe the complexity of EU-Greece relations. Looking at the historical evolution of this relationship from a more macroscopic point of view it identifies periods of convergence and divergence. It reinstates the limits of the European adjustment pressures in inducing modernization and accounts for the crises episodes by reference to some idiosyncratic features of the domestic sociopolitical contestation. The contribution discusses the valuable lessons learned by the handling of the crises both for Greece and the EU. It stresses that the Greek public disenchantment with the EU that is inexorably linked with the extreme societal burden of the adjustment process is not an isolated phenomenon. Like in many other EU countries, much of the criticism is directed toward the current scope and direction of European integration rather than on the merits and value of the integration venture per se. What is urgently required for the whole European demos is a new “grand bargain” that will provide the necessary vision for the years to come. This will condition the future evolution of the EU-Greece relationship.


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