Small states and the European migrant crisis: politics and governance

This edited book examines the experience of small states in Europe during the 2015–2016 migration crisis. The contributions highlight the challenges small states and the European Union faced in addressing the massive irregular flow of migrants and refugees into Europe and the Schengen Area. Small states adopted a number of coping strategies and proved relatively effective in navigating the storm they faced. Externally they pursued strategies of shelter-seeking, hiding, hedging and norm entrepreneurship, while domestically they tended to securitize migration and to pursue scapegoating by blaming the EU and other states for the nature and magnitude of the crisis. During this crisis management, their small administrations proved resilient and flexible in their responses, despite suffering from limited resources and being subject to the shifting preferences of stronger actors. This book shows that independent of whether we view the migration crisis as a crisis for the European Union or Europe as a whole, or how we interpret the intensity and severity of the crisis, this was a crisis for small states in Europe. The crisis disrupted the liberal and institutionalized order upon which small states in the region had increasingly based their policies and influence for more than 60 years. Tómas Joensen is Researcher and Program Manager at the Centre for Small State Studies, Institute of International Affairs, University of Iceland Ian Taylor is Professor of International Relations and African Political Economy at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK.

Intro -- Preface -- Contents -- Notes on Contributors -- Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Introduction and Framework -- Introduction: Small States and the Migrant Crisis in Context -- Small States and the Crisis -- Layout of the Book -- References -- Analysing Small States in Crisis: Fundamental Assumptions and Analytical Starting Points -- Defining Small States -- Navigating the Storm, but How? The Coping Strategies of Small European States -- Foreign Policy Strategies -- Domestic Strategies -- Conclusion -- References -- Small States and the Current Political Turmoil Related to Immigration -- Immigration-Integration: A New Opportunity for the EU? -- Introduction -- Unpacking Integration -- The Context -- Immigration, Free Movement and Respect for Human Rights -- Political Divisiveness-Not So New -- EU Legal Basis -- The EU's Integration Model -- Demographic and Economic Effects -- Discussion-The EU and Integration -- References -- Openness Versus Helplessness: Europe's Border Crisis, 2015-2018 -- Analysing Europe's Response -- How Small States Fared -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- On the Frontline: The Experiences of the Border States -- The (De)Europeanization of Greece: Experience from the Eye of the Storm -- Small States' Foreign Policies: Europeanization, De-Europeanization and Migration -- Migration Policy in Greece: From Europeanization Towards Superficial Europeanization (2008-2015) -- Immigration as a Foreign Policy Tool and the Refugee Crisis of 2015-2016: From De-Europeanization Towards Re-Europeanization -- January 2015-July 2015: The Phase of De-Europeanization -- July 2015-March 2016: Shelter-Seeking Strategy/Re-Europeanization -- Conclusions -- References -- Migration and Security: The Case of Greece -- Small States and Security -- Migration as a Security Issue -- Migration Crisis and Security Risks.

PART 1: Introduction and Framework -- 1.Small States and the Migrant Crisis in Context -- 2.Analysing Small States in Crisis: Fundamental Assumptions and Analytical Starting Points -- PART 2: Small States and the Current Political Turmoil Related to Immigration -- 3.Immigration-Integration: A New Opportunity for the EU? -- 4.Openness Versus Helplessness: Europe's Border Crisis, 2015-2018 -- PART 3: On the Frontline: The Experiences of the Border States -- 5.The (De)Europeanisation of Greece: Experience from the Eye of the Storm -- 6.Migration and Security: The Case of Greece -- 7.Malta: A Janus Faced Migration and Integration Policy -- PART 4: Waving Them on? The Experiences of Peripheral States -- 8.Coping with the Migration Crisis in a Small States in the European Union: The Experience of Slovenia -- 9.The 2015 Migration Crisis as an Identity Crisis for Iceland -- 10.Small States: "The Gatekeepers" of EU Borders During the Migration Crisis -- 11.A Small Administration Facing a Complex Policy Challenge: Estonia and the 2015 Refugee Crisis -- PART 5: Conclusion -- 12.Small States and the European Migrant Crisis: New Challenges and Coping Strategies.