Call for papers: "Diplomacy, Europe and Migration"

For a special issue of the International Journal of Diplomacy and Economy.

The Mediterranean became been the heart of the world with the great discoveries at the end of the 15th century, and then the focus moved to the Atlantic and later to the Pacific. However, the Mediterranean never really left the agenda.

In recent years we have witnessed different programmes and strategies for the Mediterranean region. Just before the millennium, the European Union prepared the EUROMED strategy, which was later modified to the Union for the Mediterranean, etc.

When talking about the region, we cannot forget the events that took place several years ago in the frame of the Arab Spring in the Maghreb countries, nor the Middle East question, the latest events in Iraq and Afghanistan and finally, yet not the least importantly, the establishment of the so-called Islamic State, among other things.

It is also a fact that, for decades, migrants from the Southern Mediterranean have been trying to get to Europe, but the numbers of immigrants were previously much lower and the majority of them targeted the small Italian island of Lampedusa. It is more than obvious that in this context the diplomacy of the West did not work in the above-mentioned countries. Nor did the economy. Thus we have, over the last year and especially over the last few months, witnessed hundreds of thousand of migrants leaving Africa and travelling towards the West. Sadly and unfortunately, many of them are also dying in doing so.

The European countries are addressing these questions differently. Some are helping the migrants, while others are building walls. The European Union states that it needs to react properly and actively. While having stated that, it is certainly somewhat late for strategies and talks, with several hundred thousands of immigrants at the European borders today.

In order to address these issues we have launched this call for papers and hope to provide some answers to the delicate questions about and interconnections between diplomacy, migration and economic matters such as FDI, remittances, labour force impact, etc. Theoretical, research, case study and more practical papers are welcome.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• The role of diplomacy in Maghreb countries
• Diplomacy and migration
• The impact of immigrants on FDIs
• The impact of immigrants on remittances
• The impact of immigrants on labour force in Europe
• European diplomacy and the Mediterranean
• Economic reasons for migration
• EU policies towards the Mediterranean
• Humanitarian questions concerning immigration
• European year of Development 2015
• Development diplomacy
• International development cooperation

Important Dates
Submission of one page abstracts (max. 500 words) (by email): 15 October, 2015
Notification of acceptance of abstracts: 1 November, 2015
Submission (online) of full papers following acceptance of abstracts: 1 February, 2016
Notification of acceptance, refusal or revision of full papers: 1 March, 2016
Submission of accepted and revised final papers: 1 April, 2016