Escape from Violence Conflict and the Refugee Crisis in the Developing World [Paperback]

The magnitude of refugees movements in the Third World, widely perceived as an unprecedented crisis, has generated widespread concern in the West. This concern reveals itself as an ambiguous mixture of heartfelt compassion for the plight of the unfortunates cast adrift and a diffuse fear that they will come pouring in. In this comprehensive study, the authors examine the refugee flows originating in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and suggest how a better understanding of this phenomenon can be used by the international community to assist those in greatest need. Reviewing the history of refugee movements in the West, they show how their formation and the fate of endangered populations have also been shaped by the partisan objectives of receiving countries. They survey the kinds of social conflicts characteristic of different regions of the Third World and the ways refugees and refugee policy are made to serve broader political purposes.

Informative, provocative. --Journal of Asian Studies

A valuable contribution to our understanding. --Political Science Quarterly

A mature statement of a theory, and supporting cases, of the relationships between causes of social conflict and the refugee implications. The systemic treatment is pathbreaking. This work will be one of those giants on whose shoulders others build. --Charles B. Keely,Georgetown University

[F]or years to come, serious refugee scholars will have to take note of, build upon, and react to this excellent book....the book's underlying analytical framework on the patterns of social conflict is so sound that it is very valuable reading....[A]n excellent and valuable analytical treatment of the patterns of conflict and the causes of refugee movements. --Journal of Refugee Studies

It is an essential book for all scholars concerned with conflict in the Third World. The book is highly relevant in comparative politics, internatil£"