From Displacement to Destabilisation: Crisis as a Threat to Peace

Abstract

This paper aims to provide a critical analysis of the structural inequalities and geopolitical factors underpinning mass movements of displacement, as well as their catastrophic effects on the people on the move and on the global peace architecture. In this regard, employing a qualitative methodology, such as literature review, policy content analysis, and in-depth key informant and expert interviews, this paper strives to rummage for the possible answers to key research questions. Seeking to enhance understanding of political economy challenges contributing to furthering cycles of conflict, the paper investigates important country case studies, which include the continuing crises of Syria, Yemen and the Rohingya exodus. In doing so, the study finds dilemmas of international cooperation and peacekeeping in the context of refugee movements and calls for an inclusive and sustainable strategy that accommodates refugee protection. Taking a closer look at the roots of the crisis, the paper contends that the refugee crisis cannot be rooted out without a global response based on justice, solidarity, and strategic cooperation among nations and institutions. Finally, connecting forced migration with the larger question of global conflict, inequality, and power, so that urgent reforms in international policy and the peace-building agenda, which may serve to reduce the human cause of displacement and potent peace globally, can be informed, is argued for in the paper.