Political Science Workshop: The Grand Split? How The World is Dividing
Panel Two: A Different World Order – new challenges for International Relations
James Milner
The shifting politics of asylum in a dividing world
The global refugee regime was one of the many global governance arrangements to emerge in the aftermath of World War Two. Comprised of norms (such as the 1951 Refugee Convention) and an institution (UNHCR), the regime was intended to facilitate cooperation to ensure protection for refugees and find lasting solutions. By any objective measure, however, the regime is not able to perform these functions. The current state of the regime is both a result of new geopolitical fault lines, both North-South and East-West, and a context in which the dividing world can be examined. This presentation will outline the thematic and geographic shifts that have emerged in the global governance of refugee responses since 2016. Drawing on examples from East Africa, the Middle East and global discussions in Geneva, the presentation will argue that the regime presents a critical context in which the Grand Split can be observed and explained.