Recent political developments might suggest that migration-related issues entail centrifugal tendencies for matters of international cooperation, in that they appear to involve fragmentation and disengagement from wider forms of cooperation. But, can migration also entail centripetal tendencies leading to greater international cooperation and integration? And how does the tension between these centripetal and centrifugal drives play out in affecting cross-country cooperation?

Several events testify to countries’ growing tendency to withdraw from multilateral / supranational agreements, and at the same time to further restrict cross-border movements. The election of Donald Trump in 2016 followed a campaign with the slogan ‘Make America Great Again’ and featured promises to build a wall along the border with Mexico plus entry bans for refugees and people traveling from Muslim countries. The US also withdrew from international agreements, including the Global Compact on Migration or the Global Compact on Refugees. The United Kingdom voted in 2016 in favour of leaving the European Union to ‘take back control’, particularly over national borders and migration inflows. No less telling, the sudden and large flows of asylum seekers reaching Europe in 2015 prompted several EU countries to close their borders or re-instate border controls within the Schengen area of free movement.

This is a part of a blog post by Alina Vrânceanu.