Getting a Grip on Migration

Some 240 million people today are living outside their country of birth – enough to form the world’s fifth most populous country. The swelling number of migrants is shaping how people regard globalization, etching a new dividing line between cosmopolitan elites and nativist parties in the developed world, and calling into question the future of the European Union. As Project Syndicate’s commentators recognize, all of this is creating a new governance agenda. And yet, while few topics are more politically salient, international migration is – almost by definition – one of the most difficult issues for nation-states to address effectively.