A growing literature examines the politicization of migration cooperation, with particular emphasis on domestic political dynamics and interstate relations. However, we know little about the midrange diplomats that participate in international migration institutions day-to-day, and how they perceive cooperation in this challenging context. In this working paper we present the findings from a novel survey conducted with diplomats who represent their governments in international cooperation forums in migration governance. We find that there is much overlap in the perspectives of diplomats, and in several instances also across the Global North and South divide. This is surprising given the different positions Global North and South states traditionally hold in the global migration regime. The paper thus lends some support to theoretical perspectives that highlight the potential for international organizations to be venues for socialization that foster common perspectives, even in a highly conflictual field. At the same time, the paper demonstrates how Global North and South states differ on substantive issues of refugee governance.
This paper is a result of an interdiscplinary research project co-supervised by Prof. Vincent Chetail (Geneva Graduate Institute's Global Migration Centre) and Prof. Sandra Lavenex (UNIGE Department of Political Science and International Relations) on: The Impact of Crises on the Global Governance of Migration: Boost or Blow?
The project is part of NCCR On the Move and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.