The UNHCR and World Politics

The UNHCR and World Politics PDF Author: Gil Loescher
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019152994X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
Over fifty years ago governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect the world's refugees. The UNHCR was created to be a human rights and advocacy organization. But governments also created the agency to promote regional and international stability and to serve the interests of states. Consequently, the UNHCR has always trod a perilous path between its mandate to protect refugees and asylum seekers and the demands placed upon it by states to be a relevant actor in world politics. This is the first independent history of the UNHCR. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR as well as to identify many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is to examine the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial events of international politics during the past half century and how, in turn, the actions of the eight past High Commissioners have helped shape the course of world history. Each chapter tells the story of an individual High Commissioner and examines the unique contributions made to the development of the Office. The history of the last fifty years shows how the UNHCR has initiated and capitalized on international political developments to progressively expand its scope and authority as an important actor in world politics. The book argues that the UNHCR has overstretched itself in recent decades and has strayed from its central human rights protection role. The protection of refugees remains a litmus test of the international community's commitment to defend human rights and to uphold liberal democratic values. Loescher offers a series of bold policy recommendations aimed at making the agency a more effective and accountable advocate for the millions of refugees in the world today.

The UNHCR and World Politics

The UNHCR and World Politics PDF Author: Gil Loescher
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 019152994X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 446

Get Book Here

Book Description
Over fifty years ago governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to protect the world's refugees. The UNHCR was created to be a human rights and advocacy organization. But governments also created the agency to promote regional and international stability and to serve the interests of states. Consequently, the UNHCR has always trod a perilous path between its mandate to protect refugees and asylum seekers and the demands placed upon it by states to be a relevant actor in world politics. This is the first independent history of the UNHCR. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR as well as to identify many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is to examine the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial events of international politics during the past half century and how, in turn, the actions of the eight past High Commissioners have helped shape the course of world history. Each chapter tells the story of an individual High Commissioner and examines the unique contributions made to the development of the Office. The history of the last fifty years shows how the UNHCR has initiated and capitalized on international political developments to progressively expand its scope and authority as an important actor in world politics. The book argues that the UNHCR has overstretched itself in recent decades and has strayed from its central human rights protection role. The protection of refugees remains a litmus test of the international community's commitment to defend human rights and to uphold liberal democratic values. Loescher offers a series of bold policy recommendations aimed at making the agency a more effective and accountable advocate for the millions of refugees in the world today.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) PDF Author: Alexander Betts
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136509070
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
This revised and expanded second edition of The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) continues to offer a concise and comprehensive introduction to both the world of refugees and the organizations that protect and assist them. This updated edition also includes: up to date coverage of the UNHCR’s most recent history and policy developments evaluation of new thinking on issues such as working in UN integrated operations and within the UN peacebuilding commission assessment of the UNHCR’s record of working for IDP’s (internally displaced persons) discussion of the politics of protection and its implications for the work of the UNHCR outline of the new challenges for the agency including environmental refugees, victims of natural disasters and survival migrants. Written by experts in the field, this is one of the very few books to trace the relationship between state interests, global politics, and the work of the UNHCR. This book will appeal to students, scholars, practitioners, and readers with an interest in international relations.

Refugees in International Relations

Refugees in International Relations PDF Author: Alexander Betts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 019958074X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
Drawing together the work and ideas of a combination of the world's leading and emerging International Relations scholars, Refugees in International Relations considers what ideas from International Relations can offer our understanding of the international politics of forced migration. The insights draw from across the theoretical spectrum of International Relations from realism to critical theory to feminism, covering issues including international cooperation, security, and the international political economy.

Rules for the World

Rules for the World PDF Author: Michael Barnett
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801465109
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 241

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Book Description
Rules for the World provides an innovative perspective on the behavior of international organizations and their effects on global politics. Arguing against the conventional wisdom that these bodies are little more than instruments of states, Michael Barnett and Martha Finnemore begin with the fundamental insight that international organizations are bureaucracies that have authority to make rules and so exercise power. At the same time, Barnett and Finnemore maintain, such bureaucracies can become obsessed with their own rules, producing unresponsive, inefficient, and self-defeating outcomes. Authority thus gives international organizations autonomy and allows them to evolve and expand in ways unintended by their creators. Barnett and Finnemore reinterpret three areas of activity that have prompted extensive policy debate: the use of expertise by the IMF to expand its intrusion into national economies; the redefinition of the category "refugees" and decision to repatriate by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and the UN Secretariat's failure to recommend an intervention during the first weeks of the Rwandan genocide. By providing theoretical foundations for treating these organizations as autonomous actors in their own right, Rules for the World contributes greatly to our understanding of global politics and global governance.

Problems of Protection

Problems of Protection PDF Author: Niklaus Steiner
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780415945745
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 366

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Book Description
First Published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

People Forced to Flee

People Forced to Flee PDF Author: United Nations United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198786467
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 544

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Book Description
This volume is an authoritative contribution to scholarly and policy debates surrounding forced displacement, as well as to practice.

The UNHCR and the Supervision of International Refugee Law

The UNHCR and the Supervision of International Refugee Law PDF Author: James C. Simeon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107244781
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 387

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Book Description
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, and its 1967 Protocol, and many other important international instruments recognize the unique role the UNHCR plays in protecting refugees and supervising international refugee law. This in-depth analysis of the UNHCR's supervisory role in the international refugee protection regime examines the part played by key institutions, organizations and actors in the supervision of international refugee law. It provides suggestions and recommendations on how the UNHCR's supervisory role can be strengthened to ensure greater State Parties' compliance to their obligations under these international refugee rights treaties, and contributes to enhancing the international protection of refugees and to the promotion of a democratic global governance of the international refugee protection regime.

UN Global Compacts

UN Global Compacts PDF Author: Nicholas R. Micinski
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000376591
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 129

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Book Description
UN Global Compacts is a concise introduction to the key concepts, issues, and actors in global migration governance and presents a comprehensive analysis of the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, the Global Compact on Refugees, and the Global Compact for Migration. The book places the declaration and compacts within their historical context, traces the evolution of global migration governance, and evaluates the implementation of the compacts. Ultimately, the global compacts were the result of three wider shifts in global governance from hard to soft law, from rights to aid, and from Cold War politics to nationalism. The book is an important contribution to international relations and migration studies and provides essential information on the NY declaration and the global compacts, in addition to an examination of the: • Negotiating blocs and strategies • Populist backlash to the Global Compact for Migration • Responsibility sharing for refugee protection • Human rights of migrants • Principle of non-refoulement • Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework • UNHCR, IOM, and the UN Network on Migration The book will be of interest to practitioners, students, and scholars of international cooperation, global governance, migrants, and refugees, and will be essential reading for graduate and undergraduate courses on international law, international organizations, and migration.

Forced Migration and Global Politics

Forced Migration and Global Politics PDF Author: Alexander Betts
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9781444315875
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Using real-world examples and in-depth case studies, ForcedMigration and Global Politics systematically appliesInternational Relations theory to explore the internationalpolitics of forced migration. Provides an accessible and thought-provoking introduction tothe main debates and concepts in international relations andexamines their relevance for understanding forced migration Utilizes a wide-range of real-world examples and in-depth casestudies, including the harmonization of EU asylum and immigrationpolicy and the securitization of asylum since 9/11 Explores the relevance of cutting-edge debates in internationalrelations to forced migration

The Refugee Crisis and Religion

The Refugee Crisis and Religion PDF Author: Luca Mavelli
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1783488964
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 317

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Book Description
The current refugee crisis sweeping Europe, and much of the world, closely intersects with largely neglected questions of religion. Moving beyond discussions of religious differences, what can we learn about the interaction between religion and migration? Do faith-based organisations play a role within the refugee regime? How do religious traditions and perspectives challenge and inform current practices and policies towards refugees? This volume gathers together expertise from academics and practitioners, as well as migrant voices, in order to investigate these interconnections. It shows that reconsidering our understanding and approaches to both could generate creative alternative responses to the growing global migration crisis. Beginning with a discussion of the secular/religious divide - and how it shapes dominant policy practices and counter approaches to displacement and migration - the book then goes on to explore and deconstruct the dominant discourse of the Muslim refugee as a threat to the secular/Christian West. The discussion continues with an exploration of Christian and Islamic traditions of hospitality, showing how they challenge current practices of securitization of migration, and concludes with an investigation of the largely unexplored relation between gender, religion and migration. Bringing together leading and emerging voices from across academia and practice, in the fields of International Relations, migration studies, philosophy, religious studies and gender studies, this volume offers a unique take on one of the most pressing global problems of our time.