The former German chancellor points (auf Deutsch) to a problematic rock in Germany's current hard place: it needs a modern, coherent immigration system - and immigrants! - to sustain its economy and welfare state. An easy case for him to make from his current position, without an easy political fix, but nonetheless true. An English summary can be found here.
Schengen, the agreement that eliminated Europe's internal borders and permits passport-free travel, is arguably the most impressive, beloved, and certainly symbolic achievement of European integration. However, operating Schengen requires extensive cooperation and effective burden-sharing on a number of fronts in order to overcome what is otherwise a sizable collective action problem. Yet issues such as relocating refugees and combating international terrorism alter state incentives regarding burden-sharing, rendering cooperation politically difficult to achieve. For details, check out these reports by the BBC and Economist.
This article contains some important insights into the burden-sharing dilemma facing Europe over migrants. However, I think the refugee resettlement figures for the EU-28 are somewhat dubious.
This is a helpful article chronicling the evolution of Europe's policy responses to the refugee crisis since the 2013 tragedy in Lampedusa.
As we hear about the scale of Europe's migrant crisis, it's easy to fall into the habit of conceiving these asylum-seeking migrants as dehumanized statistics. This article helps re-humanize those fleeing, and just how appalling these families' efforts for a better future really are.
A solid overview of the current crisis facing Europe and the tortuous politics preventing a resolution.
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AboutThis serves mostly as a curated collection of articles on topics I find politically relevant to my research interests and to the courses I teach. Archives
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