How Nation-States Create and Respond to Refugee Flows

Abstract

"The ideal type of political organization is the nation-state, which leads to a presumption of state legitimacy when the state represents a community, based on ethnic origin or shared political values, that claims a right to persist. A nation-state tends to produce forced migration for three reasons: it contains more than one nation; the populace disagrees about the structure of the state or economy; or the state implodes due to the lack of resources. This paper elaborates a theory of refugee production and policy formation based on the dynamics of the nation-state. It concludes by addressing international refugee policy and practice in light of this theory and political changes following the end of the cold war."