Refugees and Forced Displacement: International Security, Human Vulnerability, and the State

The orthodox definition of international security puts human displacement and refugees at the periphery. In contrast, Refugees and Forced Displacement demonstrates that human displacement can be both a cause and a consequence of conflict within and among societies. As such, the management of refugee movements and the protection of displaced people should be an integral part of security policy and conflict management. Refugees and forcibly displaced people can also represent the starkest example of a tension between “human security” – where the primary focus is the individual and communities – and more conventional models of “national security” tied to the sovereign state and military defence of territory. This book explores this tension with respect to a number of pressing problems related to refugees and forced displacement. It also demonstrates how many of these challenges have been exacerbates by the “war on terror” since September 11, 2001. The analysis of conflict and human displacement has changed, particularly concerning the links between security and migration. In seeking to address the nexus between security concerns and migratory flows, Refugees and Forced Displacement argues for a reappraisal of the legal, political, normative, institutional and conceptual frameworks through which the international community addresses refugee and displacement.