Maria Cristina Garcia, "The Refugee Challenge in Post-Cold War America" (Oxford UP, 2017)
\u201cNever again!\u201d This was the rallying cry, seemingly universal and unanimous, among liberal nation-states as they formed the United Nations (UN) in 1945 and later signed the UN Declaration on Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948. Emerging from the ashes of a global war that took some 60 million lives, and after witnessing the atrocities of Nazi Germany, a worldwide community appeared resolute in its commitment to not only condemn, but to also strive to prevent future \u201ccrimes against humanity.\u201d\nIn The Refugee Challenge in Post-Cold War America (Oxford University Press, 2017), Mar\xeda Cristina Garc\xeda evaluates how the end of the Cold War brought new and unanticipated challenges to upholding this commitment from 1989 to the present. Through nine case studies that examine the central actors, debates, policies, and conflicts that have shaped the U.S. response to humanitarian crises in the post-Cold War era, Dr. Garc\xeda explains the tensions that exist between different branches of government, the increasing importance of advocacy work by the humanitarian community, and the emergence of a deeply complicated asylum bureaucracy. Weighing the competing forces of fear and advocacy, Garc\xeda skillfully demonstrates the obsoleteness of the current definition of \u201crefugee\u201d in US statute. In its place, she argues for historically informed policies that address the realities of displacement in today\u2019s world.\nDavid-James Gonzales (DJ) is Assistant Professor of History at Brigham Young University. He is a historian of migration, urbanization, and social movements in the U.S., and specializes in Latina/o/x politics. Follow him on Twitter @djgonzoPhD.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices\nSupport our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/law