Dynamics of Change in International Relations Essay

Migration policies are often designed with the sole objective of influencing international migration by either restricting or encouraging circular migration, immigration or emigration(Ripsman & Paul, 2010). Open border policies have contributed to the uncontrolled to the flow of illegal immigrants into countries and in turn generating challenges to the host countries. The fundamental basis for arguments has been whether open immigration policy or restricted immigration policy

People migrate in search of better economic prospects and opportunities. Many move to enjoy a better lifestyle and improve standard of living. A segment migrates from the home country to find a secure place where they can spend lives peacefully. Recently, the increasing pace of globalization has prompted migrant workers to move from one country to another.

Migration is not a new phenomenon throughout the history of human, but the issue of migration has become more of a problem since the emerging of modern states. The distinction between immigrants and local citizens has become official with the emergence of nation-state authority and the ideas of sovereignty, citizenship and nationality. From the 19th century, the control of passport and visa has made the borders between immigrants and citizens even clearer and more identified. Today, as there are more restrictions on entering a country, states have to deal with regulating policies for immigration to control the influx of people

While it is common to hear about ‘migrants and refugees’, it is important to recognise that the two terms refer to very different groups of people. While both groups have effectively moved from one country to another, the circumstances leading up to that move are markedly different for each group.

Between 1700 CE and 1900 CE, the world saw radical growth and change. New inventions, technologies and innovations led to major shifts in power and new societies emerged. A common theme between these two dates is the migration of peoples for a variety of reasons. Some left their homelands due to push factors, like famine, war and disease. Some left due to pull factors, like economic prosperity, religious tolerance and freedom. From 1700 CE to 1900 CE, global migration experienced a continuity in long distance migration to the Americas as a result of a need for labor. Although there is a continuity, there are major changes in the push and pull factors for migration such as like the Irish Potato Famine and the migration of immigrants into Australia due to the promise of economic prosperity.

To begin it is helpful to understand that the word “migrant” is a rather contested concept, one that changes over time, and varies depending on the criteria used to assign it.(Raghuram & Erel, 2014, p.133)

Migration, whether city to city or country to country has always existed and is even essential to some countries. For an example of a country to country migration, also known as international migration, we can do a comparison. Approximately 250, 000 people from various areas around the world enter Canada each year 1, as opposed to the 2000 that go to Iceland.2 People migrate seeking a better life and for more opportunities. Not all places can provide what people want or even need. Let us take a look back at the Canada-Iceland comparison. Canada has a drastically larger number of immigrants than Iceland. Many reasons contribute to this increased amount of immigrants, including Canada which provides: universal healthcare, access to education,

Cheers to technology and the internet, the world has over the years turned to be a small village where physical and geographical barriers that hindered people’s movement from continent to continent no longer exist. As a result, people’s movements are no longer mired geographically, but rather by man-made policies. Such policies are termed as immigration policies. They denote a country’s set of rules and regulations that are formulated with the objective of guiding people entering and leaving the country. Worth mentioning early on is the fact that each and every country formulates its own set of immigration policies, and they are at

Migrations have been part of every historical period since people started existing on the Earth. Hunters in the prehistoric era moved along with their prey, emperors in the ancient history moved to expand their empires, and now, in the modern day history, people migrate to run away from war, to find a better job, education or life in general. Charles Darwin would unquestionably agree that people are guided by their inner drive to find the more appropriate conditions for living, if their life depends on it, or else, there is only one possible outcome – natural selection.

In this respect, it is worthy of mention that such a situation with the migration is the result of the recent trend in the world economy which is characterized by processes which are generally called globalization. The process of globalization is overwhelming and involves practically all countries of the world with rare exceptions which

An umbrella of opportunity is open to everyone sharing in the ideals of equality, justice, and rights, the open borders policies of the state characterise these three concepts naturally. However, as Nancy Fraser points out, those on the outside of this policy, such as those seeking asylum and refugees have difficulty accessing these natural concepts, they are restricted, the state’s decision to differentiate has created clear human rights violations. Punitive policies such as those used in the UK, directly conflict with the concepts of justice, equality, and rights, denying freedom of movement and participation in civic society. The idea of open borders, promote global economic equality, positive cooperation, and accessibility to prosperity. International migration means states must change, develop more inclusive policies concerning who can enter. Modernisation and consistency in migration policies will ensure the state will carry out its natural duty to protect the inalienable Human Rights that all men, women, and children are bestowed

Although Immigration is a complex topic with many different factors, the most common reason for immigration is poverty and the hopes of building a new future elsewhere. In the past migration was largely caused by the fore-mentioned issue of poverty, social strife, war, or other political conflicts. As of today these things are still issues and in some cases political asylum does play part in immigration decisions. Globalization is defined as the tendency for business, technologies, or philosophies to spread throughout the world. Globalization is also a major factor in the decisions made before immigration, often times families and friends will eventually re-unite in one region in order to remain together. Living in a more technical world with an advanced society has brought us to the point we are at today, a nearly global community with more in common than in any century before. With the beginning of modern technology in the 1900’s came a more closely knit world, with more communication than what was seen in the past.

Several economic social and environmental reasons are behind the migration. The economic migration resulted in order to find a new job or to pursue a particular career. The social migration could be happened to move closer to the family or friends for better quality of life. Political migration could be happened because of war or other political tension. The environmental conditions such as

The first paradigm of international relations is the theory of Realism. Realism is focused on ideas of self-interest and the balance of power. Realism is also divided into two categories, classical realism and neo-realism. Famous political theorist, Hans Morgenthau was a classical realist who believed that national interest was based on three elements, balance of power, military force, and self interest (Kleinberg 2010, 32). He uses four levels of analysis to evaluate the power of a state. The first is that power and influence are not always the same thing. Influence means the ability to affect the decision of those who have the power to control outcomes and power is the ability to determine outcomes. An example of influence and power

Fun fact:There is also different types of migration. “Economic migration” is when people are migrating to a country that has a higher percent rate of getting a job. “Social migration” is when you are migrating to start a new life or to live closer to your family. “Political migration” is when people are moving to escape corrupted government or civil war. “Environmental migration” is when natural disasters destroy homes and people try to start a new life in a new country.