The European Union in the Global Refugee Regime: A Political Economic Approach to the Humanitarian-Development Nexus

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This project examines the role of the European Union (EU)in promoting new technologies for aid and displacementmanagement in the global refugee regime. It presents astudy of how the EU has helped mainstream the "nexusmodel"-a model that calls for strengthened coherencebetween humanitarian and development aid-as part of itsresponse to the so-called Syrian refugee crisis. In doing so,I explore to what extent and through what processes thenexus model has been used to navigate and promote EUpolitical and economic interests in a multi-stakeholderenvironment. I take Jordan and Lebanon as two initial casestudies, using discourse analysis and process-tracing tointerpret qualitative data. The project contributes tonascent scholarship in international political economy andcritical refugee studies on the humanitarian-developmentnexus by highlighting the key role played by the EU indriving contemporary policy developments, whilesimultaneously showing how EU engagement is shaped byits interactions with other key stakeholders. By situatingthe nexus model in a critical political economy framework,I argue that we can better understand the interests such anapproach serves more broadly and how it affects refugeebeneficiaries specifically.16 Research Project Proposal At a time when over three-quarters (ca. 15.7 million) of theglobal refugee population are in a protracted situation(UNHCR 2019), the nexus model has been framed as a keystrategy to manage displacement. Building on previousmodels such as "Linking Relief, Rehabilitation, andDevelopment" (LRRD), the nexus model can be defined asan attempt at "strengthening collaboration, coherence, andcomplementarity" of humanitarian and developmentactions through shared involvement of public, private, andthird sector actors (OECD-DAC 2020, 6). In theory, thenexus model has been framed as a "win-win" solution torefugee crises, promising to support not just refugees, but3 / 16also host governments, the private sector, and theextended international community (Soederberg andTawakkul 2020). In practice, however, scholars have noteddivergent benefits, with some-like donors and privateactors-reaping a higher reward than others-like refugees(Burlin 2019; Zetter 2019; Anolt and Sinatti 2018; Arar2017).Insights from IPE scholarship can help explain the stratifiedimpact of the nexus model. As critical political economistshave argued, the allocation of international aid should notsolely be interpreted as a response to humanitarian anddevelopment needs, but also-and some would say moreimportantly-geopolitical and economic interests (e.g.Bermeo 2017; McLean 2014; Lundsgaarde, Breunig andPrakash 2010; Kilby 2009). In this regard, previous studieson the humanitarian-development nexus have highlightedthe important role of the EU in contributing to the designand implementation of the nexus model, particularly inforced displacement contexts (Burlin 2019; Anholt andSinatti 2018). EU engagement with the nexus approach hastaken multiple forms, including the adoption of policyframeworks such as the 2016 EU-Jordan Compact, the 2016EU-Lebanon Compact, and the 2018 Ethiopia Job Compact,as well as through the development of financialinstruments like the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response tothe Syrian Crisis and the EU Emergency Trust Fund forAfrica. Overall, the EU has described the nexus approach as"a shared vision in the EU" (ECHO 2020).Against this backdrop, this project thus asks: how has EUengagement influenced the design and implementation ofthe nexus model? In answering this question, I will explorehow the nexus approach has been used to navigate andpromote EU political and economic interests.