Blog

Q&A on ‘Security at the Borders’

Last week, I did a Q&A with Daniel Howden of NewsDeeply about my book Security at the Borders. We tackled a number of issues that arise throughout the book notably the difficulty of ‘mapping out’ the key border security actors in West Africa, the role of new digital technologies, and the politics of knowledge in police cooperation practices. Take a look at the full conversation over at RefugeesDeeply.

Some thoughts on ‘transit’ states

I’ve increasingly been interested in picking apart the category of ‘transit state’ beyond what it tells us about the ways migrants move. More specifically, I am trying to more systematically develop an idea of how the category itself opens up certain policy choices in migration governance. The EU is, of course, the most recognisable user of this typology of origin/transit states, mainly in relation to its African partners. Yet these partners also derive benefits from identifying as transit states, notably around security cooperation. I’ve written up some preliminary thoughts on this over at the Oxford Research Group’s blog. Also writing something longer on this, so stay tuned.