Coming Together or Coming Apart? A New Phase of International Cooperation
October 2019 Meeting
In recent years, states have come together in new ways to deepen international cooperation on migration. The adoption of the Global Compact on Safe, Orderly, and Regular Migration, for example, demonstrated international will to agree on common objectives and minimize the risks associated with migration. However, translating agreed-upon commitments into tangible action has proved more difficult, and the combined forces of nationalism, nativist populism, and skepticism towards migration have presented existential threats to the fragile international framework governing migration.
At the same time, the transnational nature of the world's challenges make coordinated solutions more important than ever. Demographic changes, inadequate job creation in populous regions, protracted conflicts and instability, and the increasingly severe impacts of climate change present global challenges, but also important opportunities to experiment with different strategies for managing migration, including by testing development tools and re-envisioning cooperation with countries of origin.
The 21st meeting of the Transatlantic Council on Migration explores how states can make a case for collective action without appearing to cede domestic priorities and national sovereignty in an increasingly complex political environment.
The individual papers presented at the meeting are available below:
Council Statement: Coming Together or Coming Apart? A New Phase of International Cooperation on Migration
Faced with the pandemic and its economic fallout, many countries have looked inward. Yet the nature and scale of the crisis has vividly illustrated the necessity of working across borders to address transnational challenges. This Transatlantic Council on Migration statement examines how the context for international cooperation has shifted since the Global Compact for Migration was adopted, and reflects on a way forward for migration cooperation.
The Winding Road to Marrakech: Lessons from the European Negotiations of the Global Compact for Migration
In the months leading up to the adoption of the Global Compact for Migration in 2018, what had been a quiet negotiation process suddenly became front-page news, drawing unprecedented public attention and sparking protests across Europe. This report explores how the compact negotiations triggered a multilayered institutional and political crisis in the European Union, and how this breakdown continues to affect EU external migration policy.
New Approaches to Climate Change and Migration: Building the Adaptive Capacity of Mobile Populations
The link between climate change and migration is a complex one. Whether individuals move or stay in place can be voluntary or involuntary, a proactive strategy or last resort, and is part of a bigger story of global mobility and personal networks. This report examines this complicated relationship, highlights limitations of climate response measures to date, and presents an alternative, flexible approached based on the involvement of affected communities.
How Will International Migration Policy and Sustainable Development Affect Future Climate-Related Migration?
Climate change is likely to increase the intensity of extreme-weather events already shaping human mobility and displacement. The nature, scale, and direction of future climate-related migration will depend on many factors. This report takes stock of the influence that different combinations of migration, development, and climate policies could have on migration in regions around the world for the 2020-2050 and 2050-2100 periods, using a first-of-its-kind systematic exercise.