A Migratory Mess or a Demographic Peace? Voluntary and Involuntary Population Flows and Conflict Intensity in Sub-Saharan Africa

While the study of migration and conflict among international relations scholars has become increasingly widespread, there have been few systematic, cross-national examinations of this relationship, and scant attention has been paid to these phenomena in the Global South and Africa in particular. There appears to be no clear consensus on the nature of the transnational migration-interstate conflict nexus, despite promising theoretical and case study–based contributions. Although the bulk of the existing literature suggests a positive correlation between migration and conflict, there are certainly dissenting opinions worth addressing. This article draws from literature on the political implications of refugees, voluntary South-South migration, and South-North migration to systematically test the hypotheses that voluntary and involuntary migration may either mitigate or exacerbate militarized disputes between sending and receiving states in sub-Saharan Africa.