Refugees in the Emerging Global Order

Prof. Kurt Mills

Politics 394
Mount Holyoke College

Fall 2001

Office Hours: Tuesday 9:30-11:00, Thursday 2:00-3:00, and by appointment
Office: Ciruti 223
Phone: x3083
E-mail: ngorongoro@mac.com

The issue of refugees has become an increasingly salient international issue in recent years.  The number of refugees worldwide has grown dramatically, and refugees have become a significant policy issue at both the national and international levels. Increasing numbers of people moving between states for many different reasons have led to national debates and sometimes violence, as states try to manage or control immigation.  In fact, there has been a blurring of the line between refugees and other migrants, such that it is sometimes hard to make distinctions, sometimes leading policymakers to attempt to keep out almost everybody.  In this course we will take a multidimensional look at issues related to refugees, examining them from various political, security, legal, and humanitarian perspectives and contexts. One particular theme we will address in this course is that of change—change in the international system, change in the refugee regime, and change in the main international actor related to refugees, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. We will look at the development of national and international refugee policies and actions, placing these within broader contexts the changing global environment in the post-Cold War world, and examine what this means for the protection of refugees and humanitarianism as we head into a new millennium. Case studies will be used to illuminate some of the most salient issues. The cases will include the former Yugoslavia and the Great Lakes Region of Africa. The course will function as an intensive seminar.  Everybody will be expected to be prepared and participate each week.

The formal requirements for the class are as follows:

1) Do the reading.  Since this is a seminar, everybody must do the reading in order for the class discussions to be fruitful.  Some of the readings are in a course packet (designated RP in the syllabus). The following books have been ordered and are required:

•Jennifer Hyndman, Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism
•UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action
•“UNHCR at 50: Past, Present and Future of Refugee Assistance,” Special Issue of International Migration Review 35 (Spring 2001) (referred to as IMR)
•U.S. Committee for Refugees, World Refugee Survey 2001 (referred to as WRS)

2) Participate in class.  Since this is a seminar, it is crucial that all participate in the discussions.  Quality of questions and comments is valued more than quantity.  25% of the final course grade.

3) Presentation on the week’s reading.  Each week, 2-3 people will be responsible for giving a presentation (about 20-30 minutes) on the main issues or ideas covered in the readings, and be prepared with a series of questions for the class to discuss. These questions should be e-mailed to the rest of the class members 24 hours before class (i.e. Monday afternoon).  10% of the final course grade.

4) Weekly reaction paper. Each week you will write a short (2 pages) reaction to the reading for each week. This should not be a summary of the readings, but rather your reaction to the main points raised in the readings. You should identify the key themes in the week’s readings and comment, referring to the arguments made in several of the articles. 25% of the final course grade.

5) Research paper.  The research paper, which will be a core of the course, should address some aspect of refugee protection after fifty years of the modern refugee regime.  The paper can be either thematic or case specific.  That is, you can take an issue such as internal displacement or gender and forced displacement and examine the issues involved in addressing this problem. Or, you can take a specific case, such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Haiti, or the Kurds, and discuss the humanitarian, political, and security aspects of the case, and assess how the UN, individual countries, and NGOs responded. If you choose a theme, you should use one or more cases to illustrate the theme.  In either case, you should make concrete recommendations for how refugee assistance and protection might be improved.  You will be required to turn in a working bibliography, outline, and rough draft. At the end of the semester, each person will give a short presentation on their final project. 40% of the final course grade.

Other Policies:

Attendance:  Class attendance is crucial since much of the class is based on what goes on in the classroom.  You will miss a great deal if you miss class, and you will not be able to fulfill your responsibilities to the rest of the members of the seminar. Nonattendance will affect your participation grade.

Plagiarism:  Plagiarism is a very serious offense within the college community, and will not be tolerated under any circumstances in this class. Suspected plagiarism will be dealt with according to College policy.

Late Papers:  Late reaction papers will not be accepted.

Failure to complete an assignment is grounds for failure in the course.

I reserve the right to modify this syllabus during the course of the semester.

Participation in this course implies acceptance of all of the policies and requirements stated in this syllabus.

Week 1:      Introduction
(Sept. 11)

Week 2:      Overview of the Global Refugee Crisis
(Sept. 18)

•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000: “Introduction,” pp. 1-11
•WRS: Jeff Drumtra, “The Year in Review,” pp. 14-21
•RP: UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees, 1997-98: A Humanitarian Agenda, Introduction, “Safeguarding Human Security,” pp. 1-49
•RP: Gil Loescher, Beyond Charity, pp. 3-31
•RP: Myron Weiner, “Bad Neighbors, Bad Neighborhoods: An Inquiry into the Causes of Refugee Flows,” International Security 21 (Summer 1996): 5-42
•RP: Charles Keely, “How Nation-States Create and Respond to Refugee Flows,” International Migration Review xxx (4 1996): 1046-66

Week 3:      The Refugee Regime
(Sept. 25)

•RP: UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees, 1997-98: A Humanitarian Agenda,“Defending Refugee Rights,” pp. 51-97
•RP: Cornelius de Jong, “The Legal Framework: The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and the Development of Law a Half Century Later,” International Journal of Refugee Law 10 (4 1998): 688-99
•RP: Jerzy Sztucki, “Who Is a Refugee? The Convention Definition: Universal or Obsolete?” in Frances Nicholson and Patrick Twomey, eds., Refugee Rights and Realities: Evolving International Concepts and Regimes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999): 55-80
•RP: Richard Plender and Nuala Mole, “Beyond the Geneva Convention: Constructing a de facto Right of Asylum from International Human Rights Instruments,” in Frances Nicholson and Patrick Twomey, eds., Refugee Rights and Realities: Evolving International Concepts and Regimes (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999): 81-105
•IMR: Guy Goodwin-Gill, “Refugees: Challenges to Protection,” pp. 130-42
•IMR: Charles Keely, “The International Refugee Regime(s): The End of the Cold War Matters,” pp. 303-14
•WRS: Joan Fitzpatrick, “Taking Stock: The Refugee Convention at 50,” pp. 22-9
•RP: Bill Frelick, “Aliens in Their Own Land: Protection and Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons,” in World Refugee Survey—1998 (Washington, DC: U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1998): 30-39

Week 4:      State Perspectives: Sovereignty, Security, Crisis, Order
(Oct. 2)

•Paper Proposal Due
•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000: “Asylum in the Industrialized World,” pp. 155-83
•WRS: Bill Frelick, “Secure and Durable Asylum,” pp. 42-55
•RP: Nazare Albuquerque Abell, “Migrants and Refugees in the Contemporary Security Discourse”
•RP: Emily A. Copeland, Reshaping the International Refugee Regime: Industrialized States’ Response to Post-Cold War Refugee Flows,” International Politics 35 (December 1998): 425-445
•RP: Bonaventure Rutinwa, “The End of Asylum? The Changing Nature of Refugee Policies in Africa,” UNHCR Working Papers on New Issues in Refugee Research, Working Paper No. 5, May 1999
•RP: Peter Chalk, “The International Ethics of Refugees: A case of Internal or External Political Obligation?” Australian Journal of International Affairs 52 (2 1998): 149-63

Week 5:      Implementing Asylum
(Oct. 16)

•Movie: “Well Founded Fear”

Week 6:      Role of UNHCR/Case Study of the Former Yugoslavia
(Oct. 23)

•Working Bibliography Due
•IMR: Gil Loescher, “The UNHCR and World Politics: State Interests vs. Institutional Autonomy,” pp. 33-56
•IMR: Michael Barnett, “Humanitarianism with a Sovereign Face: UNHCR in the Global Undertow,” pp. 244-77
•IMR: Nicholas Bwakira, “From Nansen to Ogata: UNHCR’s Role in a Changing World,” pp. 278-83
•IMR: Astri Suhrke and Kathleen Newland, “UNHCR: Uphill to the Future,” pp. 284-302
•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000, “War and Humanitarian Action: Iraq and the Balkans,” pp. 211-43
•RP: Anonymous, “The UNHCR Note on International Protection You Won’t See,” International Journal of Refugee Law 9 (2 1997) 267-73
•RP: Thomas Weiss and Amir Pasic, “Enterprising Humanitarians: UNHCR in the Former Yugoslavia, 1991-1995,” Global Governance 3 (Jan.-Apr. 1997): 41-57
•RP: S. Alex Cunliffe and Michael Pugh, “The Politicization of UNHCR in the Former Yugoslavia,’ Journal of Refugee Studies 10 (2 1997): 134-53     

Week 7:      International Responses: Assistance and Intervention
(Oct. 30)

•RP: UNHCR, The State of the World’s Refugees 1997-98: A Humanitarian Agenda, Chapter 3
•RP: Alan Dowty and Gil Loescher, “Refugee Flows as Grounds for International Action,” International Security 21 (Summer 1996): 43-71
•RP: Kurt Mills, “United Nations Intervention in Refugee Crises After the Cold War,” International Politics 35 (December 1998): 391-424
•RP: Ben Barber, “Feeding Refugees, or War? The Dilemmas of Humanitarian Aid,” Foreign Affairs 76 (July/August 1997): 8-14
•IMR: Carola Weil, “The Protection-Neutrality Dilemma in Humanitarian Emergencies: Why the Need for Military Intervention?” pp. 79-116
•IMR: John Sanderson, “The Need for Military Intervention in Humanitarian Emergencies,” pp. 117-23
•IMR: Flora MacDonald, “Why is Humanitarian Action Often a Substitute for a Lack of Political Will?” pp. 124-29
•WRS: Eric Schwartz, “Tools of Engagement: Saving Lives, Restoring Community, and the Challenge of Humanitarian Response,” pp. 30-5

Week 8:      Afghanistan
(Nov. 6)

•Paper Outline Due
•Guest Speaker—Larry Goodson

Week 9:      Repatriation/The Great Lakes Region of Africa
(Nov. 13)

•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000, “Decolonization in Africa,” pp. 37-57
•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000, “The Rwandan Genocide and Its Aftermath,” pp. 245-73
•RP: Kurt Mills and Richard Norton, “Refugees and Security in the Great Lakes Region of Africa,” 2001
•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000: “Repatriation and Peacebuilding in the Early 1990s,” pp. 133-53
•RP: Michael Barutciski, “Involuntary Repatriation when Refugee Protection Is No Longer Necessary,” International Journal of Refugee Law 10 (1/2 1998): 236-55
•RP: Karin Landgren, “Reconciliation: Forgiveness in the Time of Repatriation,” World Refugee Survey 1998, pp. 20-26
•RP: Jeff Drumtra, “Life After Death: Suspicion and Reintegration in Post-Genocide Rwanda,” World Refugee Survey 1998, pp. 27-9

Week 10:    The Future of the Refugee Regime
(Nov. 20)

•The State of the World’s Refugees, 2000: “The Changing Dynamics of Displacement,” pp. 275-87
•RP: Julie Mertus, “The State and the Post-Cold War Refugee Regime: New Models, New Questions,” International Journal of Refugee Law 10 (3 1998): 321-48
•Jennifer Hyndman, Managing Displacement: Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism

Week 11:    Paper Presentations
(Nov. 27)

•Rough Draft Due

Week 12:    Paper Presentations
(Dec. 4)

Week 13:    Paper Presentations
(Dec. 11)

•Final Papers Due