As allegations of the weaponization of migration proliferate on both sides of the Atlantic, Professor Kelly M. Greenhill will explore a triad of intertwined and self-reinforcing challenges that inform, affect and complicate international migration management and border security: 1) the weaponization of migration for political, economic and/or military gain; 2) the politicization and exploitation of fears of migration for domestic political gain; and 3) the weaponization of the politicization of migration, in the form of foreign hostile influence operations that rely on the deployment of rumors, conspiracy theories, and other forms of what Greenhill calls "extra-factual information". Drawing upon evidence from recent and ongoing cases, Greenhill will also discuss how each of these three distinct phenomena can exacerbate the others, creating vicious feedback loops. leaving target states less secure and more vulnerable to future acts of migration predation and endangering the human rights of the true victims of migration weaponization, the displaced themselves.
Dr. Kelly Greenhill is a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at Tufts University (with a secondary appointment at the Tisch College for Civic Life) and a Visiting Professor and Resident Senior Fellow at MIT. She is a leading expert on mass migration and forced displacement, best known for her award-winning book Weapons of Mass Migration: Forced Displacement, Coercion, and Foreign Policy, which explores how states use forced migration as a tool of foreign policy. Her research has shaped academic and policy debates, with her work cited in U.S. Supreme Court cases, international policy briefs, and major media outlets like The New York Times and Foreign Affairs. In addition to her roles at Tufts University and MIT, she has advised organizations including the United Nations, NATO, and the World Bank, and continues to advance scholarship on the geopolitics of migration through projects like the Diplomacy of Forced Migration Dataset.
Location: Athenaeum