Cynthia Buckley, chair of the Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies and associate professor in the Department of Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded a $960,345 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project titled “People, Power, and Conflict in the Eurasian Migration System.”
The project will assess how international migration affects human security and patterns of international influence. Buckley, along with co-principal investigators Timothy Heleniak (University of Maryland), Beth Mitchneck (University of Arizona) and Blair Ruble (Kennan Institute of the Woodrow Wilson International Center Scholars) will focus their analysis on migration within Eurasia, where documentation is often inadequate. As a result, migration in the region is rarely included in debates over migration theory despite its large population and significance for U.S. foreign policy.
“International migration challenges the enforcement of international human rights, alters national cultural composition, tests the limits of social and political tolerance, and binds national economies,” says Buckley, who is also an IC2 Fellow. “In addition, it creates complex economic, social and political linkages between states that have an important–and often overlooked–influence on geopolitical considerations.”
The researchers seek to improve understanding of the Eurasian migration system and its implication for Russian influence in the region. They aim to provide further insight concerning globalization, development and migration, and clarify the implications of Russia’s migration state status on international stability and influence across a region central to U.S. security goals.
The award was funded through the Social and Behavioral Dimensions of National Security, Conflict, and Cooperation competition, a joint venture between the NSF and the Department of Defense.
