Human Rights and the International Society: Analyzing the Syrian Refugee Crisis Through the Lens of The English School Theory of International Relations

On September 2, 2015, a photo of a small boy, faced down, lying lifeless on the beach, began trending on social media. The photo provoked numerous responses, with Facebook and Twitter users sharing their anger, sadness and heightened awareness of the situation emerging from Syria.[1]

The following year, Donald Trump announced during his presidential candidacy that he would implement a ban on Syrian refugees from entering the US because doing so would protect Americans from future terrorist attacks; “If I win, they’re going back,” he said.[2] The crowd cheered.

Netflix’s documentary Human Flow by social activist Ai Weiwei showcases a large group of refugees, walking along the countryside roads of Southern Greece. The scene shifts to another area of Greece, where many people, mostly families with young children and elders, are seen resting on the side of the road while the others trail on. As they rest, the camera pans to reveal a large, barbed wire fence beside them, with a police patrolling the area, assisted by a guard dog. A headline appears on the screen, and in small, white minimalist font, it says “Beginning in 2015, European countries started closing their borders to refugees, stranding tens of thousands in Greece”.[3]

The photo of the Syrian refugee boy, the news of Donald Trump, and documentaries like Human Flow showcase the current situation of the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Emerging from political unrest and violent outbreaks conducted by terrorist groups, millions of Syrians continue to face danger, either by staying in their war-torn homeland or choosing to travel dangerous roads and waters in hopes of finding safety. These people are not only part of a refugee crisis, but a human rights crisis.

The increasing number of refugees have been one of the central issues in current events, and a debatable one in the political arena. In this article, we ask ourselves: how do countries respond to refugees seeking asylum, and why is this important?

We can try to understand this situation by studying International Relations Theories. A theory in International Relations tries to interpret how we see the world, and how we should address them.[4] In a complex world, it’s difficult to distinguish one specific theory as a major theory in International Relations (IR). But each theory helps us understand the world in a different light, and helps us critically acknowledge the complexity of the world. One theory that can help us learn about the Syrian Refugee Crisis is the English School of IR.

Seeing the Issue Through the Lens of the English School

The English School theorizes the world as an international society living in an anarchic environment. There are two concepts that we need to understand first: international society and anarchy. Let’s talk about anarchy first.

What is the first thing you think of when you hear anarchy? Do you think of chaos, instability, violence? In International Relations, anarchy is not defined by such terms but instead, it means there is no authority, in this case, that governs the world.[5] Yet some IR theorists like realists would argue that without authority governing the world, we would eventually end up in chaos and conflict. But is our world currently like this? In some ways, yes, conflict is still happening around the world, but we can also see there are no countries at absolute war with each other. In comparison to our world prior to World War II, we have evolved politically, economically and socially, straying away from chaos and instability and moving towards cooperation and unity. How is this possible, even if there is no authoritative figure governing our world?

Well, there is one particular ‘authoritative figure’ that governs, or rather influences how countries interact with each other in a way that prevents us from causing violence or instability.

The United Nations?

Close, but no.

It is norms.

Norms, or regimes, are what the English school describes as principles, rules and decision-making procedures that nation-states share to create informal cooperation with one another.[6] In other words, norms are informal institutions that each country possesses; they are non-physical, philosophical-like substances that each nation has that allows them to communicate with each other on a ‘subconscious’ level. Therefore, from the English School’s point of view, the United Nations resulted from many countries having a shared norm of human rights. The UN is a formal institution, with codified laws and physical membership of states, but the recognition of human rights that each state believes in is what makes the United Nations essentially what it is.[7] This is why norms are so powerful; they can influence states to create non-state organizations that can help create a society in the world where both states and non-states can cooperate.

This is where the term international society comes in. Recall that the English School theorizes the world as an international society living in an anarchic environment. Also recall that in this anarchic environment, states are guided by norms to interact with other states and non-state actors in a cooperative manner. Thus, this cooperation between states and non-state actors is what creates an international society, where a group of global actors live together in an orderly and just way.[8] The English school emphasizes an international society and not community, because although countries can share similar norms, they may have different ways of addressing them, or may possess values that differ from other countries.[9] This is why the concept of international law is important for the English school; it addresses the similar and different norms that states have and how they apply it in their interactions with other global actors, which helps keep international society in order.[10]

Upholding human rights is one of the essential features of international law; it is a norm that strongly resonates with almost every country because it advocates the protection and respect of human life.[11] Countries that share their norm of human rights develop rules that they respect at an international level, which then guides the laws they implement at a domestic level.

But what about countries that do not share the norms of upholding human rights? Much of The English School discusses the concept of humanitarian intervention, where countries help uphold the human rights of people who are being persecuted by their own country.[12] The role of such nations can be summarized by the principles of The International Commission of Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS), who say that nation-states have the responsibility “to protect their own citizens from avoidable catastrophe – from mass murder, and rape, and starvation – but that when they are unwilling or unable to do so, that responsibility must be born by broader community of states”[13].

Even though this seems encouraging for international society to act upon their norms of upholding human rights, humanitarian intervention is difficult to do. According to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, “the state is the primary obligation-holder towards those within its borders […] the international community possesses only residual obligation when the state fails.”[14] In other words, as much as global actors want to intervene in countries who lack human rights, the country itself has the ultimate authority over the people in its country. As we can see, the English School’s focus on norms may seem powerful enough to develop a need for helping others obtain their human rights, but they can become helpless when tackling these issues head-on.

Now consider the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Countries not only have the responsibility of assisting people outside of their borders but helping them find safety within their borders. There are currently more than 5.6 million refugees fleeing from the Syrian war since 2011, with millions still displaced within Syrian borders.[15] Humanitarian intervention is becoming local, and nations are witnessing a human rights crisis happening right in their front yard. This crisis is also a testament to state power: unlike humanitarian intervention in which countries need permission from the UN to intervene in a country, refugees ultimately fall under the hands of the country they enter.[16] Therefore, a country has autonomy over what to do with refugees but can be coerced or influenced by their values and the norms they share with the international society.

So, how are the world’s leading countries responding to the Syrian Refugee Crisis?

We will focus on two countries that have garnished lots of media attention due to the alarming rise of right-wing leadership in both countries and their overall historical, hegemonic impact they have had on the modern world: the United States and the United Kingdom.

Both the U.S. and the U.K. are known for its democratic values and advocation for human rights, which played a significant role in establishing the United Nations after World War II.[17] But recently, the U.S. and the U.K. have been falling back as a role model in supporting human rights, especially with the Syrian refugees. It should also be worth noting that The English School’s focuses on nation-states interacting with each other through diplomats and state leaders because ultimately, they make the final decisions on what is best for their country and the international society.[18] Therefore, we will focus on how President Donald Trump views the Syrian Refugee Crisis in the US, as well as government officials and their perspective on the issue with the Brexit referendum in the UK.

As mentioned earlier in the article, Donald Trump has influenced many American voters to prohibit refugees from entering the US. Adding onto his rhetoric of “If I win, they’re going back”, Trump also told his audience his reasons for doing so is because “they could be linked to ISIS [Islamic State]”.[19]  By fusing refugees with terrorism, Trump damages the reason why Syrian refugees are seeking help – to escape being terrorized by these very own terrorist groups. By promoting this type of fear against the refugees, it clouds his audience’s judgment of protecting refugees’ human rights by helping them seek refuge, or refusing to help them by building walls to drown out their need of  (supposedly ‘so-called’) help. The change of perceiving refugees as a threat rather than a human rights crisis can change the norms that the US value, which can affect its relationship with other countries. The effects of President Trump’s policies on barricading refugees is summarized by Donald Kerwin of The Economist:

“…the Trump administration’s efforts to dismantle U.S. refugee protection programmes will stoke anti-refugee sentiment and exclusionary forms of nationalism in many countries and encourage other states to follow its example. Such policies will not only damage America, but also the world.”[20]

The turning point in U.K.’s role in the Syrian Refugee Crisis was the Brexit referendum. British citizens had to vote either to stay in the European Union (a group of European countries sharing similar norms in promoting economic, political and social welfare that benefits all) or leave it. The referendum opens the doors to uniqueControversial advertisements provoked numerous responses. One prime example was the infamous “Breaking Point” poster presented by UK Independent Party (UKIP) founder and pro-Brexit advocate Nigel Farage. The poster was revealed before the Brexit referendum elections, which revealed a crowd of refugees with the headline “we must break free of the EU and take back control of our country.”[21] The poster received backlash from Twitter users, who “pointed out the image’s inadvertent similarity to Nazi propaganda footage of migrants shown in a BBC documentary from 2005”.[22] Yet, according to a survey conducted by the British Social Attitudes (BSA), about 73% of the people voted to leave the EU because they were worried about immigration policies.[23] The way the politicians conceptualized Syrian refugees as a threat and an overwhelming sense of duty shifted the norms of its people who, concerned with other factors that were emphasized in the referendum, believed it was best for the UK to leave the EU. It was a symbol of abandonment on both the refugee crisis and its neighbouring European states. This effect of the Brexit referendum could only be summed up by British Conservative MP Neil Carmichael: “It’s disappointing to see Ukip [sic] jumping on the refugee crisis to further their own political aims. Britain can only deal with the issue of immigration by working together with European countries that face the same challenges.” [24]

From these two examples, we can suggest the United States and the United Kingdom stand ‘united’ on norms that turn away refugees rather than working with other countries to assist them. Recall that the English School stresses the importance of shared norms establishing an international society. If the U.S. and the U.K., two countries serving as role models to the international society, continue to limit their help for refugees and put up restrictive measures on them, it is likely that other countries will follow suit. This domino effect of barricading borders from refugees may create a changing effect on international society; in other words, a norm may develop where resorting to isolationism is preferred rather than being involved in the international society. This is why it’s critical to understand the Syrian Refugee Crisis through the perspective of The English School because this theory reveals how important a change in globally shared norms can affect the overall structure of the international society. In the case of the Syrian Refugee Crisis, countries that start viewing human rights as a threat rather than a responsibility can disrupt the international society and revert countries back to interacting with each other through a hostile, rigid international system, which consists of no shared norms of cooperation, but one shared norm of distrust among other countries.[25]

Final Thoughts

It is concerning to witness the dangers that refugees go through to in order to seek asylum in countries that they consider are safer than theirs, yet there is a harsh sentiment that refugees are a danger themselves. If countries turn away refugees, they also turn away the world. And if countries turn away from the world, international society will resort back into an international system, where states will find it much difficult to collaborate and cooperate on norms that aim to benefit the world as a whole. Instead, the world will operate on norms that focus on themselves. A world of isolated states is a bleak thought, but through the lens of the English School, it is possible that we are paving the road in this direction.

Notes

[1] Bryan Walsh, “Drowned Syrian Boy Alan Kurdi’s Story: Behind the Photo,” Time, December 29, 2015, accessed December 03, 2018, http://time.com/4162306/alan-kurdi-syria-drowned-boy-refugee-crisis/.

[2] William Finnegan, “Trump and the Refugees.” The New Yorker, June 19, 2017, accessed December 03, 2018. https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trump-and-the-refugees.

[3] Human Flow, directed by Ai Weiwei (Germany: NFP Marketing and Distribution, 2017.), streaming video, https://www.netflix.com/watch/80206691?trackId=13752289&tctx=1%2C1%2C2897b50acf849230cf4d5cb4acb827380e48fc69%3Adb04eb9cfffc7ed94f0eda0808479da1922c6b36%2C%2C

[4] Steve Smith, “Introduction: Diversity and Disciplinarity in International Relations Theory” In International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, edited by Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 1-12.

[5] Robert M.A. Crawford, “International Relations Theory and the International System” (class lecture, Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 18, 2018).

[6] Robert M.A. Crawford, “International Relations Theory and the International System” (class lecture, Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 23, 2018).

[7] Ibid.

[8] Robert M.A. Crawford, “International Relations Theory and the International System” (class lecture, Political Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, October 18, 2018).

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] Tim Dunne, “The English School.” In International Relations Theories: Discipline and Diversity, edited by Tim Dunne, Milja Kurki, and Steve Smith, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 120.

[12] N.J. Wheeler, Saving Strangers, Humanitarian Intervention in International Society, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000).

[13] Matthew Weinert, “From State Security to Human Security?” In Ashgate Research Companion to Ethics and International Relations, edited by Patrick Hayden, (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing, 2013), 159.

[14] Ibid.

[15] United Nations, “Syria Emergency.” UNHCR, accessed December 2, 2018, https://www.unhcr.org/syria-emergency.html.

[16] Mark F.N. Franke, “Political Exclusion of Refugees in the Ethics of International Relations?” In Ashgate Research Companion to Ethics and International Relations, 309-327.

[17] “History of the United Nations”, United Nations. Accessed December 03, 2018, http://www.un.org/en/sections/history/history-united-nations/index.html.

[18] Dunne, “The English School,” 112-114.

[19] “Donald Trump: I Would Send Syrian Refugees Home,” BBC News, October 01, 2015, accessed December 03, 2018, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34397272.

[20] Donald Kerwin, “How America’s Refugee Policy Is Damaging to the World and to Itself,” The Economist, June 19, 2018, https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/19/how-americas-refugee-policy-is-damaging-to-the-world-and-to-itself.

[21] Heather Stewart and Rowena Mason, “Nigel Farage’s Anti-migrant Poster Reported to Police.” The Guardian, June 16, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jun/16/nigel-farage-defends-ukip-breaking-point-poster-queue-of-migrants.

[22] Ibid.

[23] May Bulman, “Britain Voted to Leave the EU to Stop Immigration, Definitive Study Finds.” The Independent, June 20, 2017, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-news-leave-eu-immigration-main-reason-european-union-survey-a7811651.html.

[24] Ibid.

[25] Dunne, “The English School,” 119.

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