Migrants, Refugees, and Foreign Policy: U.S. and German Policies toward Countries of Origin (review)

Publication of this volume is timely because Germany and the United States have become the most significant recipients of refugees and migrants in the developed Northern hemisphere. The countries share similar problems and interests in dealing with an unprecedented influx of hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees from around the globe each year. German and United States policy responses represent different models of how to cope with the challenges of migration and refugee movements, though their “regime” hardly escapes critical inquiry because of both countries’ manifold policy inconsistencies and failures to bridge the gap between lofty moral and humanitarian principles and realpolitik.

The book reviewed is not as homogenous as the subtitle suggests. Only seven of ten chapters are, strictly speaking, a policy analysis from a German or American viewpoint—among them the well-written and up-to-date introduction by the editors. Most of the other contributions represent the German perspective, concentrating, for example, on the impact of German policy on refugee flows from former Yugoslavia (Heinz-Jürgen Axt), German migration policies toward the successor states of the former Russia (Barbara Dietz and Klaus Segbers), German policies toward ethnic Germans (Volker Ronge), and the new German labor migration policy toward Eastern Europe (Elmar Hönekopp). Two chapters cover United States policy on migration from Mexico and the Carribean (Christopher Mitchell), and American economic instruments to influence migration from sending countries (Philip Martin). The chapter on the often ignored but demographic, and politically significant, issue of internal and external migration in the Russian Federation (Christian Dornis) does not cover either United States or German policies, although this contribution has the merit of demonstrating that scholars, policymakers, and the public are well advised to pay closer attention to Eastern European and Russian migration issues and their economic, political, and cultural impact—in particular, the rise of ethno-nationalism fuelled by large contingents of displaced and expelled ethnic Russians.

Two chapters toward the end of the volume and the summary by the editors are most interesting for their global perspective and conclusion. Weiner evaluates global causes of refugee flows between 1969 and 1992, based on an impressive collection of data. He points at security and policy dilemmas common to refugee-receiving and -generating countries that will shape the reminder of this century and beyond. Barry Posen maps various options of military intervention to limit refugee flows and to create “safe havens.” His analysis points at a current problem, the lack of an international framework to coordinate effectively international humanitarian interventions and enforce minimum standards of human rights to avoid large-scale and uncontrollable migration and refugee movements. Weiner and Posen demonstrate convincingly that purely unilateral or national responses are no longer feasible.

From this perspective, the organization of authors and topics in the volume becomes more convincing: Starting out from policy intervention attempts of Germany and the United States, Münz and Weiner’s volume closes by demonstrating the limitations of unilateral political solutions offered by nation-states in an increasingly transnational, global environment that transcends national borders and renders single-nation policies more and more ineffective.